Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/waldaną

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.

Kroonen supposes a back-formation from the preterite *wulþǭ (compare Old Norse past olla), which continues an extended aorist root, Pre-Proto-Germanic *h₂wl̥h₁-t-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“to rule, be strong”).

LIV² posits a *-dʰ-present *wélH-dʰe-ti to the root (there reconstructed as Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to be strong, hold sway”)), from which a Pre-Proto-Germanic iterative *we-wólH-dʰe-ti was derived, in which case it is close cognate to Lithuanian veldėti (“to inherit, possess, govern”) and Old Church Slavonic власти (vlasti, “to rule”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɑl.dɑ.nɑ̃/

*waldaną

1. to rule

The original preterite seems to have been weakly inflected like a preterite-present verb, as seen in Old Norse.

• Proto-West Germanic: *waldan
  • Old English: wealdan
    • Middle English: welden, weld, welde, weldon, wielde, wild, wilde, wold, wolde, wolden, weld, welde, weild, weilde, veild (northwest Midlands), weild, weilde, veild, wald, walde (Northern), walden, wælden (early southwest Midlands), wald, walde, wealde, wealden, uelden (Early Middle English)
      • English: wield, English: wald
      • Scots: wield, Scots: wald
  • Old Frisian: walda (weak verb)
  • Old Saxon: waldan
    • Middle Low German: wolden
      • Low German: wolden
  • Old Dutch: waldan
    • ⇒ Middle Dutch: gewouden (strong verb)
  • Old High German: waltan
    • Middle High German: walten, walden
      • German: walten (weak verb)
        • → Danish: valte
• Old Norse: valda
  • Icelandic: valda
  • Faroese: valda
  • Norwegian: valda
  • Elfdalian: uolda
  • Old Swedish: valda, valla, volda
    • Swedish: vålla
  • Old Danish: waldæ
    • Danish: volde
  • Old Gutnish: walda
    • Gutnish: valde
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌳𐌰𐌽 (waldan)
• → Proto-Finnic: *valdit'ak (see there for further descendants)