gafl

Forms

gafl m (genitive gafls, plural gaflar)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gabla- (“top”),^[1] a noun of the a-stems.^[2] The same word with another vowel of the ablaut series is Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌻𐌰 (gibla, “pinnacle”), with Middle Low German gevel and Old High German gibil (“gable”);^[3][4] gebal (“skull”) is a further form of the stem.^[3][5]

Outside Germanic the word goes with Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ, “head”) and Tocharian A śpāl (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰobʰ-lo-;^[1] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon and Falk and Torp take the first meaning to be “head” or “the outermost end”.^[6][7] Lehmann gives the same set and its root.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated records are of about 1312, among them a Njáls saga manuscript, AM 468 4to, with var þar þekjan fallin at gaflinvm “the roof had fallen in there at the gable”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word named the short end wall of a house, as against the long side wall.^[9][10] It also named the end of an island, and it is common in Norwegian place-names for headlands and mountains.^[9][8] In the Edda it is found in salar gafl “the gable of the hall”.^[11]

In Icelandic it also names the end boards of a chest, a bed or a trough.^[6][12] Old French gable was taken from the Norse word, and the English word gable comes from Old French, in the north of England perhaps straight from Norse.^[13][7] Cox finds a Norse origin of Scottish Gaelic gobhal (“fork, cleft pole”) unlikely, since the Early Gaelic word is older than the Viking Age.^[14]

Timeline

• 1312 – gaflinvm “the gable” in AM 468 4to.^[8]
• 1312 – the place-name Flostr gafl in Eirspennill.^[8]
• 1360 – stoð hvð-fatit við gaflinn “the sleeping bag stood against the gable” in Sturlunga saga.^[8]
• 1400 – einn gafl eyiarinnar “one end of the island”.^[8]
• Mid-14th century – English gable.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. a gable, the end wall of a house.^[8][15]
2. the end of an island or headland.^[8][9]

Word family

• húsgafl
• búðargafl
• gaflveggr
• gaflhlað

Descendants

• Icelandic gafl^[1]
• Faroese galvur^[1]
• Norn gabel^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål gavl^[1]
• Swedish gavel^[1]
• Danish gavl^[1]
• Old French gable (→ English gable)^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. gafl
3. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 152
4. ^ a b Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. 183
5. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
6. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. gafl
7. ^ a b Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1910–1911), Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, p. s.v. gavl
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. gafl
9. ^ a b c Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. gafl
10. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 225
11. ^ Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 313
12. ^ Sigfús Blöndal (1920–1924), Islandsk-dansk ordbog, Reykjavík, p. 232
13. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ Cox, Richard A. V. (2024–2026), Old Norse Loan-Words in Scottish Gaelic, Clann Tuirc, richardavcox.scot/ONlwSG, p. s.v. gobhal
15. ^ Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. gafl