NODE / 0019reconstructedProto-Indo-European
*séh₂l-
salt
- DATE
- c. 4500–2500 BCE
- SENSE
- default
- FAMILY
- Indo-European
- CANONICAL KEY
- node:6:sehl:reconstructed
*This form is reconstructed by comparison. It is not directly attested in this exact written form.
01ANCESTRAL EDGES
ROOT OF THIS ROOT
*THE TRAIL ENDS HERE.No securely reviewed ancestor extends beyond this node. 2 evidence paths stop at this boundary.
INSPECT 2 CITED BOUNDARY CLAIMS
02DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES
THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Latin · antiquitysāl
salt
- SOUND
- Latin sāl continues the inherited salt word through Italic development.
- MEANING
- Material salt; no wage sense is reconstructed at this stage.
- SCHOLAR
- Mallory & Adams
- CONFIDENCE
- probable
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Proto-Germanic · Proto-Germanic prehistory · common salt*saltom
salt
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *saltom belongs to the Indo-European salt family represented as *séh₂l- in the existing dossier and *sal- in other references.
- MEANING
- The material salt meaning remains stable; no payment sense exists at the reconstructed stage.
- SCHOLAR
- Mallory & Adams · Etymonline · UT LRC editors
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — Root notation differs across references without changing the comparative salt-family claim.
03TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE
EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE
This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.
- UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES
- 8
- REVIEWED EDGES
- 8
- DEEPEST PATH
- 4
- MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
- 2
HISTORICAL STEP 012 EDGES
STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Latin sāl continues the inherited salt word through Italic development.
- MEANING
- Material salt; no wage sense is reconstructed at this stage.
STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *saltom belongs to the Indo-European salt family represented as *séh₂l- in the existing dossier and *sal- in other references.
- MEANING
- The material salt meaning remains stable; no payment sense exists at the reconstructed stage.
Mallory & Adams · Etymonline · UT LRC editors3 CITATIONSEDGE 487 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 022 EDGES
STEP 02derivationestablished
- SOUND
- salārium is morphologically related to salārius “pertaining to salt,” from sāl.
- MEANING
- The precise bridge from salt to official compensation is not preserved.
Latin lexicography · Pliny2 CITATIONSEDGE 15 ↗ STEP 02inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Old English sealt regularly continues reconstructed Proto-Germanic *saltom.
- MEANING
- The material salt sense remains stable across Germanic.
HISTORICAL STEP 032 EDGES
STEP 03inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- A regular Romance continuation of Latin salārium.
- MEANING
- Official payment became general compensation.
Romance historical lexicography1 CITATIONEDGE 14 ↗ STEP 03inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Old English sealt loses or reshapes inherited inflection while the stem stabilizes as Middle English salt.
- MEANING
- The condiment and preservative meaning remains central.
Merriam-Webster · UT LRC editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 485 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 042 EDGES
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- French stress and vowels were adapted into English.
- MEANING
- The word narrowed toward fixed regular compensation.
STEP 04historical continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English salt continues with stable spelling into modern English while pronunciation changes.
- MEANING
- The material sense remains while figurative savor, sailor, and chemical-class senses develop.
Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 484 ↗ “Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.
04RECORDED EVIDENCE
ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE
NO RECORDED WITNESS ATTACHED.That is expected for a reconstructed form: the node is inferred from comparison, not quoted from a surviving occurrence.
05EDITORIAL REUSE
WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE