Summary
The root w-ʾ-l means to take refuge: وَأَلَ = he sought shelter, المَوْئِل = the refuge and stronghold, and the attested Arabic name وائل. The Troy dossier's node م-٢ reads Hittite Wilusa / Homeric Ϝίλιος (Wilios, with digamma) on this root as المَوْئِل, "the refuge-city" — grade ج+, notably because it absorbs the attested initial w- that the simpler إيل reading had to ignore. (المصدر: raw/greek/طروادة_عقد_جذور.md)
Attested Forms
| Language | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic | waʾala | to take refuge |
| Arabic | mawʾil | refuge, stronghold |
| Arabic | Wāʾil | personal name |
| Hittite (proposed) | Wilusa | Troy/Ilion (grade ج+) |
| Greek (proposed) | Ϝίλιος → Ἴλιος | Ilios, with then without digamma |
Sound Changes
- w-ʾ-l → wil- — near-exact match; the later loss of the initial w- in Ἴλιος parallels the internal Greek loss of digamma (المصدر: raw/greek/طروادة_عقد_جذور.md)
Entities Using This Root
- Troy — Wilusa/Ilios as المَوْئِل: the walled refuge whose fall is the epic's single event
- Troilus — the composite name طور+إيل linking the city's two names
Semantic Evolution
Verb of motion toward shelter → the sheltering place itself (mawʾil, the maf-ʿil locative pattern) → toponym. If the Wilusa reading holds, the city's name states its narrative function: it exists in the epic only as the thing besieged. Upgrade path: survey Luwian toponyms in wil-/wal-. (المصدر: raw/greek/طروادة_عقد_جذور.md)