*geld

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *geld "payment" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *geldą (“payment, reward”),^[1] which Orel cites as *ʒelđan and Köbler as *gelda-, *geldam.^[2][3] Orel relates the noun to the strong verb *ʒelđanan,^[2] which Ringe and Taylor cite as Proto-Germanic *geldaną "to pay (for)", the source of Old English ġieldan.^[4]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[5][6]

Evidence

The noun is attested as Old English gield,^[7] Old Frisian jeld,^[8] Old Saxon geld^[5] and Old High German gelt, recorded from the 8th or 9th century.^[6] The Old Frisian variation of g- and j- comes from the merger of *g and *j before front vowels;^[9] de Vaan contrasts this Frisian change, as in ield from *geld, with Old Franconian, which kept a velar there.^[10] For Old Dutch, Köbler sets up only an unattested *geld, beside the compound recorded as ⟨weregildum⟩ and ⟨weregeldi⟩ "wergild" in the Lex Ribuaria and the capitularies.^[11][12]

Meanings

1. payment^[1]

Old English also used the noun for "tribute", "sacrifice", "worship" and "guild",^[7] Old Frisian for "money" and "wergild",^[8] Old Saxon for "reward" and "sacrifice",^[5] and Old High German for "tax", "interest", "fine" and "income".^[6]

Derivatives

• *werageld "wergild, compensation for a man's life", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old High German have the compound, with the first part ⟨wer-⟩, ⟨were-⟩ or ⟨weri-⟩.^{[7][14][5][15]}

Reflexes

• Old English: gield (“payment, tribute, sacrifice, worship, guild”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: jeld (“money, sum of money, wergild”)^[8]
• Old Saxon: geld (“payment, reward, sacrifice”)^[5]
• Old High German: gelt (“tax, interest, fine, payment, income, sacrifice”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *geld
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 130
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *gelda-
4. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 216
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. geld
6. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. gelt
7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gield
8. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. jeld
9. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. jeld
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 516
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *geld?
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. werageldum
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *werageld
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. jeld
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gelt