An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/helfen

by Friedrich Kluge

helfen, verb, ‘to help, assist, avail, remedy,’ from the equivalent Middle High German hëlfen, Old High German hëlfan; a common Teutonic verb used in the same sense in all the dialects; compare Gothic hilpan, Old Icelandic hjalpa, Anglo-Saxon hëlpan, English to help, Dutch helpen, Old Saxon hëlpan. Teutonic root help from pre-Teutonic kelb-; a root of another Aryan dialect apparently allied in meaning curiously ends in p (kelp); compare Lithuanian szèlpti, ‘to help,’ paszalpà, ‘help’ (in Sanscrit the root çalp does not occur). Sanscrit kḷp, ‘to accommodate oneself to, suit,’ is even less closely connected.