GRAPH-WIDE SEARCH
MEASURE THE GRAPH ↗NOT JUST A DICTIONARY LOOKUP
6 EVIDENCE COLLECTIONSSEARCH
THE GRAPH.
Find a modern word—or search sideways through reconstructed roots, historical forms, meanings, languages, scholars, sources, claims, disputes, and witnesses.
013
MODERN ENTRY POINTS
WORD DOSSIERS
adjectiveexact headword
liufs
The normalized Gothic adjective meaning dear or beloved, preserved through inflected manuscript forms including liuba and liubans.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗adjectivedossier summary
lieb
The German adjective for dear, beloved, kind, or welcome, inherited through Middle High German liep and Old High German liob from the Germanic adjective branch also represented by Dutch lief and Gothic liufs.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗adjective · nouncontrarian claim
lief
The Dutch adjective for dear, sweet, or kind and its substantivized use for a beloved person, inherited through the Germanic adjective branch.
OPEN THE FULL LINEAGE ↗021
ATTESTED / RECONSTRUCTED / BOUNDARY
HISTORICAL FORMS
034
WHERE INTERPRETATION IS TESTED
CLAIMS & DISPUTES
SCHOLARLY DISPUTES / 2
resolvedestablishedexact word
Does the asterisk in Project Wulfila’s lemma *liufs mean Gothic itself is reconstructed?
No. Project Wulfila links the normalized lemma to 33 inflected occurrences in surviving Gothic manuscripts. The citation form is inferred, while the lexeme and its inflections are attested.
resolvedprobableposition text
Did Dutch lief come from English love?
No. Dutch lief is an inherited Germanic adjective cognate with forms including Gothic liufs and German lieb; English love is a separate noun descendant in the same wider family.
CONTRARIAN TRUTHS / 2
RANK 158GRADE Aexact ranked word
A starred Gothic lemma can still be manuscript-attested.
Project Wulfila writes *liufs because the normalized citation form is inferred from inflections. Forms such as liuba and liubans survive in named codices, so this is not the same kind of star as Proto-Germanic *leubaz.
RANK 199GRADE A-ranked reveal
Dutch lief is love’s adjective cousin, not its child.
Dutch lief belongs with Gothic liufs and German lieb in the inherited dear-or-beloved adjective branch. English love is a separate noun route in the same deeper family.
041
BOOKS / DICTIONARIES / ARTICLES / DATABASES
SOURCES
051
FIRST USES & HISTORICAL OBJECTS
ATTESTATION WITNESSES
06
SEARCH IS DISCOVERY, NOT PROOF
EVERY RESULT OPENS A PERMANENT EVIDENCE RECORD.
Matching text only locates a record. It does not raise confidence, settle a dispute, establish cognacy, or turn a source report into direct inspection. Follow the result into its citations and editorial limits.