*talljan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *talljan for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *taljaną (“to count, to narrate”),^[1] which Kroonen cites as *taljan- and Orel as *taljanan.^[3][4] Ringe and Taylor trace the form, with *ll against the single *l of Proto-Northwest Germanic *taljaną, through *tælljąn to Old English tellan.^[1] Fulk thinks a palatalised l the best explanation for the absence of diphthongisation in the Old English verb from Proto-West Germanic *talljan.^[5]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[6][7] Like other class I weak verbs with roots in *-al-, its past stem has no *-i- before the suffix in much of West Germanic: tealde, talda and zalta, beside regularised zelita, go back to Proto-West Germanic *taldē.^[8] Wiktionary analyses the verb as *tal "number" with *-jan;^[2] Orel derives it from the noun *talan,^[4] and Kroonen treats it with the noun *tala-.^[3]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old Frisian tella, Old Saxon tellian, Old High German zellen and Old English tellan,^[1] and Old Dutch tellen in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[9]

Meanings

1. to count^[1][2]
2. to narrate, to tell^[1][2]

Kroonen takes "to align" to have been the oldest meaning of the Proto-Germanic verb, whence "to count" and "to recount".^[3] Old English also used the verb for "to consider", "to esteem" and "to ascribe",^[10] Old Frisian for "to calculate" and "to answer for oneself",^[11] and Old High German also for "to proclaim" and "to confess".^[7]

Reflexes

• Old English: tellan (“to count, to reckon, to consider, to tell”)^[10]
• Old Frisian: tella (“to count, to tell, to calculate”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: tellian (“to count, to tell, to say”)^[6]
• Old Dutch: tellen (“to count, to tell, to proclaim”)^[9]
• Old High German: zellen (“to count, to tell, to report, to proclaim”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 238
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *talljan
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 508
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 400
5. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 66
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tellian
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. zellen
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 73
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. tellen
10. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. tellan
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. tella