*stel-

Reconstruction

LIV and NIL set up *stel- 'to set up, to prepare'.^[1][2] Beekes glosses it 'put in order', and Derksen writes *stel-/*stl-.^[3][4]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs a full-grade i̯e-present *stél-i̯e-, marked as uncertain, from Ancient Greek στέλλω (stéllō) and Old Church Slavonic постьлати (postĭlati, “to spread”); a sigmatic aorist *stḗl/stél-s- in Greek; and a fientive *stl̥-éh₁/h₁- behind the Greek aorist passive.^[1] An e-present in Albanian shtjell (“throws, hurls; winds up”) and the Greek perfect are later formations.^[1]

Evidence

Beekes counts Old Armenian ստեղծանեմ (stełcanem, “to prepare, create”), with an unexplained c, Albanian shtjell from *stel-n-, Old Church Slavonic постьлати (postĭlati, “to spread”) and Old Prussian stallīt (“to stand”) as evidence for the root.^[3] No Anatolian, Indo-Iranian or Tocharian verb is listed.^[1] Some lexicographers record Aeolic forms beginning in sp- instead of st-, which would point to *skʷel-.^[1] Beekes finds the evidence for such a root very meagre and suggests that some of these forms may continue *spel- 'to split'.^[3]

Competing analyses

LIV leaves open whether the Germanic noun for 'place, stall' belongs here as *stol-no- or to *steh₂- as *sth₂-dʰlo-.^[1] Kroonen derives Proto-Germanic *stalla- (“place, stall”) and the verb Proto-Germanic *stalljan- (“to put”) from *steh₂-, and Beekes allows the same for the verb.^[5][3] LIV adds Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌽 (stilan, “to steal”) with a question mark, as 'to put somewhere for oneself'.^[1] NIL rejects this on grounds of meaning,^[6] and Kroonen derives Proto-Germanic *stelan- (“to steal”) from *tsél-e-.^[7] For Lithuanian stãlas (“table”) and its Slavic match, ALEW considers a plain o-grade noun from *stel-.^[8] Smoczyński instead derives Proto-Slavic *stolŭ from *sth₂-eló-, a derivative of *steh₂-, and takes the Lithuanian word as a loan from Old Belarusian.^[9] Sihler takes Ancient Greek στήλη (stḗlē, “block, slab”), conventionally traced to *stl̥-neH₂-, rather as a noun in *-sleH₂- from *steH₂- 'stand'.^[10]

Meanings

1. to set up, to prepare^[1][2]

Greek developed the senses 'to make ready, to equip, to send', and the Slavic simplex also means 'to make a bed, to cover, to strew'.^[1]

Derivatives

• *stól-o-: Ancient Greek στόλος (stólos), Old Church Slavonic столъ (stolŭ).^[2]
• *stol-áh₂-: Ancient Greek στολή (stolḗ).^[2]
• *stel-n- 'shoot, stem': Latin stolō (“shoot, sucker”).^[11]

Reflexes

• Armenian: Old Armenian ստեղծանեմ (stełcanem, “to prepare, create”), as cited by Beekes.^[3]
• Greek: Ancient Greek στέλλω (stéllō, “to put in order, make ready, send”).^[3]
• Italic: Latin stolō (“shoot, sucker”).^[11]
• Slavic: Old Church Slavonic стьлати (stĭlati, “to spread”).^[4]
• Baltic: Old Prussian stallīt (“to stand”), as cited by Derksen.^[4]
• Albanian: Albanian shtjell.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *stel-
2. ^ a b c d Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. *stel-
3. ^ a b c d e f Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. στέλλω
4. ^ a b c Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 473
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 472
6. ^ Wodtko, Dagmar S.; Irslinger, Britta; Schneider, Carolin (2008), Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 741
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 476
8. ^ Hock, Wolfgang, et al. (2015), Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (ALEW), online and Hamburg: Baar, p. s.v. stãlas
9. ^ Smoczyński, Wojciech (2018), Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, Berlin: Peter Lang, p. 1749
10. ^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, New York: OUP
11. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. stolō
12. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz, Amsterdam / Atlanta: Rodopi (Leiden Studies in Indo-European 7), p. 376