whirling wheels (Random translation fun)

[llama_nom]

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "ualarauans" <ualarauans at ...> wrote:
>
> For "wheel" I'd suggest Gothic *hvaéhvul or *hviwul (both N.-a) 
> formed after PG reduplications *hwehwula- and *hwegwula- 
> respectively. One can't be sure which variant – voiceless or voiced –
>  was more likely to appear in Gothic (or did they co-exist like OE 
> hwéol and hweogul?). "Mid the [roar of] whirling wheels" = in 
> midjaim windandam hvaihvulam?

I noticed a while ago that the reconstruction of "wheel" as Proto
Germanic *xwexula- (and *xwe(g)ula-) in the 2nd ed. of the Oxford
English Dictionary doesn't quite work.  The double "h" in Old English
variants (hweohhol) must be due to earlier /hw/ (cf. Francis A. Wood
(1920) "Germanic 'w' gemination II", Modern Philology 18:6, pp.
303-308), or else to a directly following /l/, later syllabicised in
Old English (Campbell (1959) 'Old English Grammar', OUP, Oxford, §
408).  I've also made a note that if /xw/ had come before /u/ in Proto
Germanic in this word, it would have become /x/, but I can't find a
reference for that or examples.  (Presumably, if so, then Gothic
'saihwum' would be due to analogical levelling.)  Hmm, where did I get
that from?  Any ideas?

If it's right, then neither of the OED's explanations for the double
"h" in Old English could apply.  By which reasoning, maybe Gothic
*hwaihwl for the voiceless variant?  But if I'm mistaken about /xw/ >
/h/ before /u/, then your suggestion still works.

As for the voiced variant, /gw/ became /g/ before /u/ in Proto
Germanic, e.g. *magwuz (cf. Ogham Irish maqos) > Go. magus (but /gw/ >
/w/ in other positions, e.g. *magwjo: > Go. mawi; *segwniz > Go. siuns
(Wright (1917) 'Grammar of the Gothic Language, OUP, Oxford, § 137). 
So could we be looking at Gothic *hwaihwl (=OE hweohhol < PG
*xwexwla-) and/or *hwiul (=OE hwéol, hweowul, hweogul < PG *xwegwla-);
or else Gothic *hwigul and *hwaih(w)ul?

LN

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