Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/stillom

This Proto-Celtic 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.

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂stḗr-lo-, from *h₂stḗr (“star”). Compare Latin stēlla (“star”) for the formation. For the semantic evolution, compare Old Irish súil (“eye”) from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“sun”).

Pedersen previously compared this word to Ancient Greek στίλβω (stílbō, “to shine”), but Schrijver rejects this comparison since -lb- does not regularly give -ll- in Celtic.^[1]

*stillom n^[1]

1. look, gaze, view

Matasović's reconstruction *sil-n-^[2] seems to be a mechanically reconstructed placeholder; all etymologies reconstruct initial *st- in this word.

• Unsorted formations:
  • Middle Breton: sellout
    • Breton: sellout
  • Middle Welsh: syllu
    • Welsh: syllu
  • Middle Irish: sellaid

• Proto-Brythonic: *sɨll
  • Breton: sell
  • Welsh: syll
• Old Irish: sell (“iris, eye, glance”)