Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hwal

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed words 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-West Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwalaz.

Noun

*hwal m[1]

whale

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*hwal	hwalō, hwalōs
Accusative	*hwal	*hwalā
Genitive	*hwalas	*hwalō
Dative	*hwalē	*hwalum
Instrumental	*hwalu	*hwalum

Descendants

Old English: hwæl
- Middle English: whale
  - English: whale
    - ⇒ English: whalefish
  - Scots: whaul
Old Frisian: *hwal
- ⇒ Saterland Frisian: Waalfisk
- ⇒ West Frisian: walfisk
Old Saxon: hwal
- Middle Low German: wal
  - ⇒ Middle Low German: walvisch
    - German Low German: Waalfisk, Waalfiss
    - Plautdietsch: Waulfesch (< High German?)
Old Dutch: *wal
- Middle Dutch: wal
  - Dutch: wal
    - ⇒ Dutch: walvis
      - Afrikaans: walvis
Old High German: wal
- Middle High German: wal
  - German: Wal
  - Luxembourgish: Wal
  - ⇒ Middle High German: walfisch, walvisch
    - German: Walfisch

References

Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 50: “PWGmc *hwal”

[1] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 50: “PWGmc *hwal”