dhelpër

Albanian

Alternative forms

  • dhelpën, dhelpë, ledhpë — Gheg

Etymology

Unknown. Likely from Proto-Indo-European *(h₂)u̯l̥p(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.[1]

Orel derives it from an earlier *velpër, via /v/ > /ð/ backing, from *velpën, ultimately from PIE *(h₂)u̯l̥p(e)i-,[2] however no such variant has been attested.

Noun

dhelpër f (plural dhelpra, definite dhelpra, definite plural dhelprat)

  1. fox
    Synonym: skile

Declension

Declension of dhelpër
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative dhelpër dhelpra dhelpra dhelprat
accusative dhelprën
dative dhelpre dhelprës dhelprave dhelprave
ablative dhelprash

Derived terms

References

  1. ^ Demiraj, Bardhyl et al. (2021) “dhelpër”, in DPEWA. Digitales Philologisch-Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altalbanischen [DPEWA. Digital Philological-Etymological Dictionary of Old Albanian]
  2. ^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “dhelpër”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 81
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