Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 5. ai- : oi- 'oath, significant speech'
Semantic Field(s): to Speak, Talk
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Middle Irish: | ōeth | n.masc | oath | IEW |
| Welsh: | anudon | n | perjury | IEW |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | āþ | n.masc | oath | ASD/IEW |
| āþ-brice | n.masc | perjury, lit. oath-breaking | ASD | |
| āþ-gehāt | n.neut | sacred pledge, lit. oath-vow | ASD | |
| Middle English: | ooth | n | oath | W7 |
| English: | enigma | n | riddle, puzzle | CDC |
| enigmatic | adj | puzzling, like an enigma | CDC | |
| oath | n | calling upon god to witness to truth re: claim | W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | eth, ed | n | oath | ASD |
| Dutch: | eed | n | oath | ASD |
| Old Saxon: | ēð | n.masc | oath | IEW |
| Old High German: | eid | n.masc | oath | IEW |
| Middle High German: | eit | n | oath | ASD |
| German: | Eid | n.masc | oath | ASD |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | eiðr | n.masc | oath | ASD |
| Danish: | eed | n | oath | ASD |
| Swedish: | ed | n | oath | ASD |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | aiþs | n.masc | oath | IEW |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | aenigma, aenigmatis | n.neut | enigma, figure, allegory | CDC |
| Portuguese: | enigma | n | enigma | CDC |
| Spanish: | enigma | n | enigma | CDC |
| French: | ánigme | n | enigma | CDC |
| Italian: | enigma, enimma | n | enigma | CDC |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | αἰνέω | vb | to praise | LRC |
| αἴνιγμα | n.neut | enigma | LRC | |
| αἶνος | n.masc | tale, story, fable, saying | CDC | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
