Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/aljaz

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.

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂élyos.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.jɑz/

*aljaz^[1]

1. other, another, else

   Synonym: *anþeraz

• *aljǭ (“concubine; woman other than man’s main wife”)

• *aljar

Among most descendants, only the genitive survives as an adverb *aljas (“other, else”), or in other formations (*aljô (“otherwise, or”), *aljalīkô (“otherwise”)) or compounds, e.g., *aljalandijaz ~ *alilandijaz ~ *aljalandiją (“foreign country”).

• Proto-West Germanic: *alljas
  • Old English: elles
    • Middle English: else
      • English: else
  • Old Frisian: elles, ellis
  • Old Dutch: elles
    • Middle Dutch: els
  • Old High German: elles, alles

• Old English: ele-, el-
• Old Saxon: eli-
• Old Dutch: eli-, ele-
• Proto-Norse: *ᚨᛚᛃᚨᛉ (*aljaʀ), ᚨᛚᛃᚨ- (alja-)
  • ⇒ Proto-Norse: ᚨᛚᛃᚨᛗᚨᚱᚲᛁᛉ (aljamarkiʀ)
  • Old Norse: ella (“otherwise, or”), ellar (< *aljǭ)
    • Icelandic: ellar, ella (“otherwise, or”)
    • Faroese: ella (“or”)
    • Middle Norwegian: ælle
      • Norwegian Nynorsk: eller, elder; (dialectal) eld’u, eld’e, elle (“or”)
        • ⇒ Norwegian Nynorsk: elles (“else, otherwise”)
    • Old Swedish: ælla, ællar (“or”)
      • Swedish: eller (“or”), eljest (“else, besides”)
    • Danish: eller (“or”)
      • Norwegian Bokmål: eller (“or”)
        • ⇒ Norwegian Bokmål: ellers (“else, otherwise”)
    • Gutnish: ella (“or”)
  • Gothic: 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (aljis, “other”), 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (alja, “but, except”) (< *aljǭ)

• Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN