*pāl

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *pāl, from an earlier *pālu,^[1] and an alternative form *pāli, behind Old English pǣl and Old Frisian pēl.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pālus (“stake, pole”).^[3][4] EWA calls it an early loan, taken into Old High German before the Second Sound Shift and well attested in the other North and West Germanic languages.^[3] Boutkan finds that the East Old Frisian form pēl must be an older borrowing, made before the further raising of the substituted vowel /ē₁/ in Frisian, and that the High German forms with the consonant shift must be as early.^[4] EWA traces pālus to a Proto-Italic instrument noun *pak-slo- from the root of pangō (“to fasten”).^[3]

Morphology

A masculine noun, an a- or i-stem in Old High German^[3] and an i-stem in Old Saxon.^[5] Köbler gives the Old Frisian noun as an a-stem.^[6]

Evidence

The word is attested as Old English pāl or pǣl,^[7] Old Frisian pāl in West Old Frisian beside pēl in East Old Frisian,^[8] Old Saxon pāl, glossing Latin paxillus,^[9] and Old High German pfāl, in glosses from the 10th century.^[3] Old Dutch pāl occurs only as a byname, possibly for a tall thin person, from 1123.^[10] EWA notes that the later North Germanic words, such as Swedish påle, come from Middle Low German rather than directly from Latin.^[3]

Competing analyses

For the two Old Frisian vowels, Boutkan takes pēl for an older borrowing, while van Helten pointed to the possibility of earlier forms ⟨pāl-⟩ and ⟨pēl-⟩ in one paradigm, the colour of the stem vowel depending on the vowel of the ending.^[4]

Meanings

1. pole, stake^[1]

Old Frisian also used the word for "boundary post", and in the plural for "boundary, border area".^[8] Old English also used it for "post",^[7] and Old High German for "peg".^[3]

Reflexes

• Old English: pāl (“pole, stake, post”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: pāl (“stake, boundary post”)^[8]
• Old Saxon: pāl (“stake, peg, post”)^[5]
• Old Dutch: pāl (“stake”)^[10]
• Old High German: pfāl (“stake, peg, post”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *pāl
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *pāli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. pfâl
4. ^ a b c Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. -pal
5. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. pāl
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. pāl
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. pǣl
8. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. pāl
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. pāl
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. pāl