Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/helpaną

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

Appears to derive from a Proto-Indo-European *ḱelb-, *ḱelp- (“to help”), with Lithuanian šel̃pti (“to help, support”) as a cognate; however, there are subtle phono-grammatical issues (for which see Kroonen for more), in addition to the seemingly-related Lithuanian gélbėti (“to help”) being phonetically irreconcilable with regular sound laws.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈxel.pɑ.nɑ̃/

Verb

*helpaną

to help

Inflection

Conjugation of (strong class 3)
present tense	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
	active voice			passive voice
1st singular	*helpō	*helpaų	—	*helpai	?
2nd singular	*hilpizi	*helpaiz	*help	*helpazai	*helpaizau
3rd singular	*hilpidi	*helpai	*helpadau	*helpadai	*helpaidau
1st dual	*helpōz	*helpaiw	—	—	—
2nd dual	*helpadiz	*helpaidiz	*helpadiz	—	—
1st plural	*helpamaz	*helpaim	—	*helpandai	*helpaindau
2nd plural	*hilpid	*helpaid	*hilpid	*helpandai	*helpaindau
3rd plural	*helpandi	*helpain	*helpandau	*helpandai	*helpaindau

past tense	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*halp	*hulpį̄
2nd singular	*halft	*hulpīz
3rd singular	*halp	*hulpī
1st dual	*hulpū	*hulpīw
2nd dual	*hulpudiz	*hulpīdiz
1st plural	*hulpum	*hulpīm
2nd plural	*hulpud	*hulpīd
3rd plural	*hulpun	*hulpīn

	present	past
participles	*helpandz	*hulpanaz

Related terms

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *helpan
- Old English: helpan
  - Middle English: helpen, help, elp, helpi, healpe, heolpe, halpen, hælpan
    - English: help
    - Scots: help
    - Yola: help
- Old Frisian: helpa
  - North Frisian: heelpe, halep
    Sylt: help
  - Saterland Frisian: hälpe
  - West Frisian: helpe
- Old Saxon: helpan
  - Middle Low German: helpen
    - Low German: helpen
      - German Low German: helpen, hölpen, hülpen
- Old Dutch: helpan
  - Middle Dutch: helpen
    - Dutch: helpen
      - Afrikaans: help
      - Berbice Creole Dutch: helpu
      - Javindo: helpen
      - Jersey Dutch: hälpe
      - Negerhollands: help
      - Skepi Creole Dutch: halp
      - → Caribbean Javanese: hèlep, ngèlep
    - Limburgish: hèlpe
- Old High German: hëlfan, hëlpan — Central German
  - Middle High German: hëlfen
    - Central Franconian: hellepe
    - Cimbrian: hölfan
    - German: helfen
    - Luxembourgish: hëllefen
    - Yiddish: העלפֿן (helfn)
Old Norse: hjalpa
- Icelandic: hjálpa
- Faroese: hjálpa
- Norwegian Nynorsk: hjelpa; (dialectal) hjalpa, hjålpa, hjølpa, hjòlpa, helpa
- Norwegian Bokmål: hjelpe
- Old Swedish: hiælpa
  - Swedish: hjälpa
- Danish: hjælpe
Gothic: 𐌷𐌹𐌻𐍀𐌰𐌽 (hilpan)
→ Proto-Finnic: *këlbat'ak (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*helpan-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 219
^ Vladimir Orel (2003) “*xelpanan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 168

[1] Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*helpan-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 219

[2] Vladimir Orel (2003) “*xelpanan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 168

[1]

[2]