*talu

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *talō (“speech, number”),^[3][4] which Kroonen and Orel cite as *talō(n)- and *talō(n).^[3][5] Orel takes it for a variant of the neuter *talan.^[5] In Old English the forms went through *tælu, *tælǣ to Old English talu, tale.^[1]

Morphology

A feminine ō-stem.^[6][7] In Old Frisian the by-forms tale and tal continue a stem without the fronting of *a, which was regularly absent before back vowels.^[8]

Evidence

Ringe and Taylor give the word in Old High German zala, in an Old Saxon compound meaning "count of years", in Old English and in Old Frisian.^[1] Old Saxon tala glosses Latin summula at the end of the 10th century,^[9] and Old Dutch has zala "number" in Williram's commentary of 1100.^[10]

Meanings

1. number, series^[1]
2. narrative, narration^[1][2]
3. calculation, counting^[2]

Old English also used the word for "accusation",^[6] Old Frisian for "language" and for the speech of the plaintiff and the reply of the defendant,^[11] and Old High German for "statement, opinion, definition".^[12]

Derivatives

• *talōn "to calculate, to consider", which Wiktionary analyses as formed from the noun with *-ōn;^[13] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the verb for Proto-West Germanic.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: talu (“number, series, narrative, story, accusation”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: tele (“number, language, speech”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: tala (“calculation, amount, list”)^[7]
• Old Dutch: zala (“number”)^[10]
• Old High German: zala (“number, row, narrative, speech, calculation”)^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 196
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *talu
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 508
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *talō
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 401
6. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. talu
7. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. tala
8. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. tele
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tala
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. tala
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. tele
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. zala
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *talōn
14. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 190