Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wīlą

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

Related to Middle Irish fell (“deception”), Lithuanian vi̇̀lti (“to deceive”),^[1] with further origin of the terms somewhat disputed:

From Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, want”), with semantic shift "will, want" > "change one's wills" > "deceive" (though Smoczynski does not mention the Germanic cognates);^[2]
or from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- (“to turn, bend”) + *-ilą (“neuter agentive suffix”). The suffix is the neuter form of *-ilaz.^[3]

Noun

*wīlą n

craft
deceit

Inflection

Declension of *wīlą (neuter a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*wīlą	*wīlō
vocative	*wīlą	*wīlō
accusative	*wīlą	*wīlō
genitive	wīlas, wīlis	*wīlǫ̂
dative	*wīlai	*wīlamaz
instrumental	*wīlō	*wīlamiz

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic:
- Old English: wīl
  - Middle English: wile
    - English: wile
- → Old French: guile (see there for further descendants)
Old Norse: vél, væl
- Icelandic: vél

References

^ Vladimir Orel (2003) “*wīlan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 466
^ Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007) “vi̇̀ltis”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Vilnius: Uniwersytet Wileński, page 755
^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “u̯ei-1, u̯ei̯ǝ- : u̯ī- (C. Mit l-Formantien:)”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 1120-22

[1] Vladimir Orel (2003) “*wīlan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 466

[2] Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007) “vi̇̀ltis”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Vilnius: Uniwersytet Wileński, page 755

[3] Pokorny, Julius (1959) “u̯ei-1, u̯ei̯ǝ- : u̯ī- (C. Mit l-Formantien:)”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 1120-22

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