< Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic
Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/albī
 | This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence. |
Proto-Germanic
Etymology
Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”). Scandinavian rivers (elfr etc.) are mostly "white water", while the Elbe was possibly revered on account of its sheer size (see *albiyu).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɑl.βiː/
Noun
*albī f[1]
- river
- Synonyms: *ahwō, *fleutą, *flōduz, *rīþaz, *straumaz
Inflection
| ī/jō-stemDeclension of *albī (ī/jō-stem) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | *albī | *albijôz | |
| vocative | *albī | *albijôz | |
| accusative | *albijǭ | *albijōz | |
| genitive | *albijōz | *albijǫ̂ | |
| dative | *albijōi | *albijōmaz | |
| instrumental | *albijō | *albijōmiz | |
Alternative reconstructions
- *albiz[2]
Descendants
- Proto-West Germanic: *albī
- Old English: Ælf
- Old High German: Elba
- Middle High German: Elbe
- German: Elbe
- Middle High German: Elbe
- Old Norse: elfr
- Icelandic: elfur, elfa
- Faroese: elvur m, elv f
- Norwegian Nynorsk: elv; (dialectal) alv, ålv, olv, ølv
- Old Swedish: ælf
- Swedish: älv, älf (pre-1906 spelling)
- → Westrobothnian: älv
- Swedish: älv, älf (pre-1906 spelling)
- Danish: elv
- Norwegian Bokmål: elv
- → Latin: Albia, Albis
- → Ancient Greek: Ἄλβις (Álbis)
- → Proto-Slavic: *olba
- Czech: Labe
- Kashubian: Łaba
- Polabian: Låbü
- Polish: Łaba
- Russian: Ла́ба (Lába)
- Serbo-Croatian: Laba
- Silesian: Łaba
- Slovak: Labe
- Slovene: Laba
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: Łobjo
- Upper Sorbian: Łobjo
References
- Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*albī-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 20
- Orel, Vladimir (2003), “*albiz”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 13