*fifaldǭ
Runic: ᚠᛁᚠᚨᛚᛞᛟ Pronunciation: /ˈɸi.ɸɑl.dɔ̃ː/noun · feminine · ōn-stem
Meanings
butterfly
Etymology
Possibly from pre-Germanic *pí-polh1-t(r)-eh₂, an expressive/iterative reduplication of Proto-Indo-European root *pelh1- (‘to get going, set in motion’) (Rix et al. 2001), possibly of onomatopoeic origin. The dental extension could be the remnant of an original *-to-extension or, especially in West Proto-Germanic, a possible instrument suffix, *-tro. The term underwent various expressive and folk-etymological changes in the Proto-Germanic daughter languages, as well as in the IE cognates, so a precise etymology is difficult. Cognate with Latin pāpiliō (‘butterfly, moth’), Proto-Slavic *perpelъ (‘quail’), and Old Mazanderani پاپلی (pāpıli, ‘butterfly’)
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | fifaldǭ | fifaldōniz |
| Acc. | fifaldōnų | fifaldōnunz |
| Gen. | fifaldōniz | fifaldōnǫ̂ |
| Dat. | fifaldōni | fifaldōmaz |
| Inst. | fifaldōnē | fifaldōmiz |
| Voc. | fifaldǭ | fifaldōniz |
Descendants
-
*fifaldrā (Proto-West Germanic)
-
*fifaltra, *fīfaltra (Old Dutch)
-
vivaltere, vivalter, viveltere, vyvalter (Middle Dutch)
- vijfwouter, wiewouter (Dutch)
-
vivaltere, vivalter, viveltere, vyvalter (Middle Dutch)
-
*fifaltra, *fīfaltra (Old Dutch)
-
*fifaldā (Proto-West Germanic)
- fifalde, fifealde (Old English)
- fīfoldara, fivildra, vivildra (Old Saxon)
-
* fifaldrā (Proto-West Germanic)
-
fifaltra, pifoltra, fīfaltra, zwifaltra (Old High German)
-
vīvalter, vīveltre, *zwīvalter (Middle High German)
- Zwiefalter, Falter (German)
- פֿלאַטערל (flaterl) (Yiddish)
-
vīvalter, vīveltre, *zwīvalter (Middle High German)
-
fifaltra, pifoltra, fīfaltra, zwifaltra (Old High German)
-
fiðrildi (Old Norse)
- fiðrildi, firvaldur (Faroese)
- fiðrildi (Icelandic)
- fivreld (Norwegian Bokmål)
- fivreld, fivrelde, fivel (Norwegian Nynorsk)
- fjäril (Swedish)