Cognate Set 2195 – Meaning: bad

IE-CoR reference form:
*ubila-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Germanic
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
The further connections of the Germanic adjective *ubila- 'bad' are debated. It is generally agreed that OIr. fel 'bad, evil' may be formally identical with the Germanic lexemes from earlier *upelo-, if the Celtic lexemes are not borrowings from Old French fel 'faithless, unfaithful, disloyal' (cf. Heidermanns 1993:637-638, Matasović 2009:396, Kluge 2011:938, Kroonen 2013:557). Debated remain the further proposed connections to Hitt. ḫuu̯appa-, connected since Juret 1942:71 and further advocated by Watkins 1969:30, Melchert 1988:233n1, Kloekhorst 2008:369-371, but doubted or rejected by Lehmann 1986:371, Kluge 2011:938, Kroonen 2013:557. LIV² Addenda \& Corrigenda tentatively reconstructs *h₂u̯óbʰh₁-/h₂u̯(é)bʰh₁- for the proposed Anatolian cognates.
Found in clades:
Germanic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough, Cassandra Freiberg
Found in 1 clade by 5 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
119   Old High German ubil ˈybil ˈubil
120   Middle High German übel ˈybəl ˈybəl
111   Old English yfel ˈyvel ˈyfel
118   Old Saxon uƀil ˈuβil ˈubil
101   Gothic ubils 𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌻𐍃 ˈuβils ˈubils
References
  • Heidermanns, Frank: 637-638
    S.v. Gmc. *ubela- 'böse'. The West Germanic form of the adjective *upélo- can be identical with OIr. fel (of uncertain attestation), if this is not a borrowing from Old French fel 'treulos'. [Watkins 1969](src-391):30 further attempts to connect Hitt. ḫuwappa- 'schlecht' and ḫuwapzi 'behandelt schlecht' to a root roun *ḫuwap-, from which the Germanic correspondence may be derived via a root *Hu̯e/op- : *Hup-.
  • Kloekhorst, Alwin: 369-371
    S.v. Hitt. ḫuu̯app- / ḫupp- 'to be hostile towards, to do evil against' with derived adj. ḫuu̯appa- 'evil, ill, bad'. Contra [Melchert 2007](src-713), K. argues that the two Hittite verbs ḫuu̯app- / ḫupp-, one meaning 'to hurl, to throw (+ acc.)', one 'to be hostile towards, to be evil against (+ dat.-loc.)', are in fact identical, with the second meaning derived from the first. The date of the semantic shift is unclear; if the Germanic words in question are connected (as suggested by [Juret 1942](src-714):71), then already in PIE. Possibly also connected: skt. vap- 'to throw', av. vīuuāpat̰ 'to strews apart, plunders, destroys'. - Reconstructed PIE present: *h₂u̯óph₁-/ h₂uph₁-, root form thus *h₂u̯eph₁-.
  • Kluge, Friedrich: 938
    S.v. NHG übel (MHG übel, OHG ubil, OS uƀil), from Gmc. *ubila- 'übel', also in Goth. ubils, OE yfel, OFr. evel. Outside of Germanic one compares OIr. fel 'schlecht', which may go back to IE *upelo-). Further origins unknown. Perhaps to Hitt. hwappa- 'böse, schlecht', in which case the Germanic forms could go back to a zero-grade of an IE root *Hu̯ep-.
  • Kroonen, Guus: 557
    S.v. Proto-Germanic *ubila- 'evil, bad'. Meaning of the PGmc. form maybe 'overstepping a boundary'. Perhaps connected to OIr. fel. The connection to Hitt. ḫuu̯appi / ḫuppanzi 'to be hostile towards, to evil against; throw down, hurl' < *h₂uóph₁-ei, h₂uph₁-énti must be rejected because the meaning 'do evil' developed from 'overthrow' in Hittite ([Kloekhorst 2008](src-80):369-372).
  • Kümmel, Martin Joachim:
    Tentatively reconstructs *h₂u̯óbʰh₁-/h₂u̯(é)bʰh₁- > ?heth. (katta) huwappi ‘wirft, schleudert (herab)’ in view of [Melchert 1988](src-416):233n1, [Melchert 2007](src-713):513-9, but cf. [Kloekhorst 2008](src-80):369-71.
  • Lehmann, Winfred P.: 371
    S.v. Goth. U2. ubils 'κακός', 'bad, evil', cf. Tischler (HEG I:331-32) against the connection with Hitt. ḫuu̯appa- 'bad' made by [Watkins 1969](src-391):30.
  • Mallory, J. P. and Adams, Douglas Q.: 339
    "A verbal root *h₂/₃u̯op- ‘treat badly’ is recovered from Celtic (OIr fel ‘bad’), Germanic (e.g. NE evil ), and Anatolian (huwappi ~ huwapzi ‘ill-treats, despoils’)."
  • Matasović, Ranko: 396
    S.v. Proto-Celtic *ufelo- 'bad, evil', from PIE *h₂u̯op- 'treat badly' (cf. Hitt. huwapzi 'harrows, despoils', Goth. ubils 'evil'). The development *h₂up-elo- > *ufelo- > welo > OIr. fel is regular. The closest cognates are found in Germanic (cf. also OE yfel 'evil, bad').
  • Melchert, H. Craig: 233 Fn. 1
    Hitt. ḫuu̯app- 'hurl, throw' is to be connected with Skt. vap-. Both from PIE *h₂u̯ep- 'to throw'; apart from that also PIE *h₂u̯ep/h₂eu̯p- 'evil' which is the basis for Goth. ubil etc. < *h₂up-é-lo- (for which cf. [Watkins 1969](src-391):30).
  • Scarborough, Matthew:
    The further connections of the Germanic adjective *ubila- 'bad' are debated. It is generally agreed that OIr. fel 'bad, evil' may be formally identical with the Germanic lexemes from earlier *upelo-, if the Celtic lexemes are not borrowings from Old French fel 'faithless, unfaithful, disloyal' (cf. [Heidermanns 1993](src-697):637-638, [Matasović 2009](src-50):396, [Kluge 2011](src-397):938, [Kroonen 2013](src-165):557). Debated remain the further proposed connections to Hitt. ḫuu̯appa-, connected since [Juret 1942](src-714):71 and further advocated by [Watkins 1969](src-391):30, [Melchert 1988](src-416):233n1, [Kloekhorst 2008](src-80):369-371, but doubted or rejected by [Lehmann 1986](src-179):371, [Kluge 2011](src-397):938, [Kroonen 2013](src-165):557. [LIV² Addenda \& Corrigenda](src-389) tentatively reconstructs *h₂u̯óbʰh₁-/h₂u̯(é)bʰh₁- for the proposed Anatolian cognates.
  • Watkins, Calvert: 30
    Goth. ubils (+) < *up-élo- from a nominal root PIE *ə̯u̯e/op-, ə̯up-. Hitt. ḫuu̯apzi also belongs to this root and is a denominative verb.