*kwalljā

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *kwalljā "wellspring, spring, well" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] EWA sets up a different West Germanic form, *ku̯ellōn-, *-an-, for the Old Saxon, Old High German and Old English words.^[2]

Etymology

Köbler takes it to be inherited from Proto-Germanic *kwellōn (“spring, well”), which he also writes *kwellō- and refers to the strong verb *kwellan "to well up".^[3] Seebold too lists *kwell-ōn "spring" with the strong verb *kwell-a- "to well up".^[4] EWA calls Old High German quella a verbal abstract to the strong verb of class III quellan.^[2] Wiktionary names no Proto-Germanic ancestor.^[1]

Morphology

Old English cwiella is a masculine weak n-stem,^[5] and Old Saxon quella probably a feminine weak noun.^[6] EWA classes the Old High German noun as a feminine ōn-stem, and the compound prunkulle as a feminine noun of the jōn-stems, perhaps of the jō-stems.^[2][7]

Evidence

Holthausen glosses the Old English noun "spring".^[8] Köbler counts the accusative plural ⟨quellon⟩, glossing Latin scatebra (“bubbling spring”), in glosses of about 1000, as Old Saxon;^[6] EWA dates the same gloss to the 11th century and calls it Franconian, perhaps Upper German, or Old Saxon.^[2] The compound Old High German brunkwella glosses Greek κρήνη (krḗnē, “spring”) in glosses of 765,^[9] and EWA finds it, in the form prunkulle, only in two places of the glosses.^[7] EWA takes the modern Dutch dialect words and the rare West Frisian ones for "spring" to be borrowed from German.^[2]

Competing analyses

The shape of the word is disputed.^[2][1] Wiktionary's *kwalljā, EWA's West Germanic *ku̯ellōn-, *-an- and Köbler's Proto-Germanic *kwellōn differ in form.^[1][2][3] For Old High German prunkulle EWA reports Kluge's derivation from *-qullja-, with the loss of w before the rounded vowel, as a zero-grade formation to the verb, like Old High German hulla (“covering”) to helan (“to hide”).^[7] Wiktionary lists West Frisian descendants of an Old Frisian form that it reconstructs,^[1] while EWA takes the West Frisian words for loans from German.^[2]

Meanings

1. spring, wellspring^[1]
2. well^[1]

The Old Saxon and Old High German gloss renders a bubbling spring.^[2]

Reflexes

• Old English: cwiella (“spring”)^[8]
• Old Saxon: quella (“spring, well”)^[6]
• Old High German: quella (“bubbling spring”)^[2], brunkwella (“spring”)^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *kwalljā
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. quella
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *kwellō-
4. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. s.v. kwell-a-
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. cwiella
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. kwella
7. ^ a b c 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. prunkulle
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. cwiella
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brunkwella