dhelpër
Albanian
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Unknown. Likely from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥p-(e)i- (“fox”) (compare Italian volpe, Lithuanian lãpė, Greek αλεπού (alepoú), Armenian աղվես (aġves)), only possible with the assumption of contamination with another lexeme. Among the various suggestions are a compound with dhe (“earth”), or influence from dhele (“flattery”).
If regional Gheg dhelbunë is an archaism and -p- arose through final devoicing in dhelpë < *dhelp#, one can assume a formation from *ǵólh₂-ibʰo- "reddish glowing animal", from Proto-Indo-European *ǵelh₂- (“to shine, radiate”). If -p- is old, however, a contamination of *(h₂)u̯l̥p(e)i- "fox" and a lost adjective *ǵólh₂-i-u̯o-, or *ǵólh₂-i-no-, "(reddish/yellowish) shining" (> Pre-Proto-Albanian *j́áliu̯a- ~ *j́álina- > *ðełə ~ *ðelə) would be conceivable. Alternatively, a borrowing from Latin volpes (“fox”) can't be excluded.[1]
Orel derives it from an earlier *velpër, via /v/ > /ð/ backing, from *velpën, ultimately from PIE *h₂wl̥p-(e)i-,[2] however no such variant has been attested.
Noun
[edit]dhelpër f (plural dhelpra, definite dhelpra, definite plural dhelprat)
Declension
[edit]| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | dhelpër | dhelpra | dhelpra | dhelprat |
| accusative | dhelprën | |||
| dative | dhelpre | dhelprës | dhelprave | dhelprave |
| ablative | dhelprash | |||
Derived terms
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl et al. (2021), “dhelpër”, in DPEWA. Digitales Philologisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altalbanischen [DPEWA. Digital Philological-Etymological Dictionary of Old Albanian]
- ^ Orel, Vladimir (1998), “dhelpër”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden; Boston; Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 81