*weraldi

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor write the Proto-West Germanic word *werald(i) "world", literally "age of men",^[1] and Wiktionary has *weraldi.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *weraldiz (“world”), which Ringe and Taylor reconstruct for Proto-Northwest Germanic,^[3] and Köbler for Proto-Germanic as *weraldi-, *weraldiz.^[4] Boutkan and Siebinga call it a compound, perhaps already Proto-Germanic, of Proto-Germanic *weraz (“man”) and Proto-Germanic *aldiz (“age”).^[5] Berr compares Latin saeculum, "century, age" and "world", for the meaning.^[6]

Morphology

A feminine i-stem.^[7][8] Old Saxon and Old High German keep the i-stem, while the word often passed into the ō-stems, as in Old Norse and Old Frisian.^[3] Köbler also sets up an ō-stem *wiraldō for West Germanic.^[9]

Evidence

The word is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English weorold,^[10] Old Frisian wrald and warld,^[11] Old Saxon werold,^[6] Old Dutch werilt, recorded from 901–1000,^[12] and Old High German weralt, in glosses from the third quarter of the 8th century.^[9] In Old English it went through *weræld(i) and *werald to weoruld ~ weorold;^[1] it underwent back umlaut even in West Saxon, giving weorold ~ worold, Mercian weoruld, Northumbrian woruld and Kentish wiarald.^[3] In Old Frisian warld is the expected form, and wrald has the ⟨r⟩ moved.^[5]

Competing analyses

The sources disagree on Old Norse verǫld, and so on whether the word goes back beyond West Germanic: Köbler counts it among the reflexes of the Proto-Germanic word,^[4] and Ringe and Taylor list it with the Proto-Northwest Germanic *weraldiz in one passage;^[3] in another they take the late Old Norse word for probably a loan, following de Vries,^[1] and Boutkan and Siebinga mark it as perhaps borrowed from English.^[5]

Meanings

1. world^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "age, mankind, life, eternity",^[10] Old Frisian for "all the people of the world",^[11] Old Saxon for "earth, lifetime",^[6] and Old High German for "time, age, eternity, mankind".^[9]

Derivatives

• Boutkan and Siebinga list the adjectives *weraldiska- and *weraldlīka- "of the world", as in Old High German weraltisk, Old Frisian wraldesk and Old Frisian wraldlik.^[5]

Reflexes

• Old English: weorold (“world, age, mankind, life, eternity”)^[10]
• Old Frisian: wrald (“world, all people”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: werold (“world, earth, lifetime”)^[6]
• Old Dutch: werilt (“world”)^[12]
• Old High German: weralt (“time, age, eternity, world, earth, mankind”)^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 202
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *weraldi
3. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 326
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *weraldi-
5. ^ a b c d Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. wrald
6. ^ a b c d Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 446
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weorold
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. warld
9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weralt
10. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. weorold
11. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wrald
12. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. werilt