*walþu

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *walþu "forest".^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *walþuz (“forest”),^[2][3] a masculine noun which Orel cites as *walþuz and Köbler as *walþu-, *walþuz.^[2][3]

Morphology

Köbler takes the Proto-Germanic noun for a masculine u-stem.^[3] Old Frisian and Old Dutch keep the u-stem,^[4][5] Old English and Old Saxon have a masculine a-stem,^[6][7] and Old High German an i-stem.^[8] Hofmann and Popkema give the Old Frisian word as masculine and neuter.^[9]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English weald, Old Frisian wald, Old Saxon wald, Old Dutch walt and Old High German wald.^[4][10] ONW's oldest Old Dutch record dates from 726, in a Latin context, ⟨in uualdo Bochonia⟩ "in the forest Bochonia", a name which may also be rendered "beech forest"; it also reconstructs an Old Dutch *walt from Old French gaut, which it takes to be borrowed from Old Dutch.^[10] Gamillscheg's Romania Germanica lists a Frankish wald.^[11] Köbler names Lombardic *wald and Medieval Latin gualdus beside the Old High German word.^[8]

Meanings

1. forest^[1][3]

The daughters differ in the kind of land they mean: Orel glosses Old English weald as "high land covered with wood",^[2] Bremmer glosses Old Frisian wald as "wasteland, moors",^[12] Old Saxon has "woods, forest, wilderness" and in the Genesis "leafage",^[7] and Old High German also "wilderness, desert".^[8] The cognate Old Norse vǫllr means "field".^[2]

Reflexes

• Old English: weald (“forest, grove, bush”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: wald (“forest”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: wald (“woods, forest, wilderness”)^[7]
• Old Dutch: walt (“forest, wood”)^[10]
• Old High German: wald (“forest, wilderness, desert”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *walþu
2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 445
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *walþu-
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wald
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wald
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weald
7. ^ a b c Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. wald
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wald
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wald
10. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. walt
11. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1970), Romania Germanica: Sprach- und Siedlungsgeschichte der Germanen auf dem Boden des alten Römerreichs, vol. 1: Zu den ältesten Berührungen zwischen Römern und Germanen. Die Franken, 2nd ed., Berlin: de Gruyter, p. s.v. wald
12. ^ Bremmer, Rolf H., Jr. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 216