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: bhei- 'bee (insect)'
Semantic Field(s): Bee
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Old Irish: | bech | n | bee | RPN |
| Welsh: | bydalf | n | beehive | LRC |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | beó, bī, beón | n.fem | bee(s) | CDC |
| bēo | n.fem | bee | RPN | |
| beofian | vb | to tremble | CDC | |
| Bēowulf | prop.n.masc | Bear, lit. bee-wolf | LRC | |
| Middle English: | bee, been | n | bee(s) | CDC |
| English: | bee | n | social insect: maker of honey | AHD/W7 |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Dutch: | bie | n | bee | CDC |
| Dutch: | bij(e) | n.fem | bee | ASD/CDC |
| Old Saxon: | bibhōn | vb | to tremble | CDC |
| Low German: | bigge | n | bee | CDC |
| Old High German: | bibēn | vb | to tremble | CDC |
| bī(n)a, pīa | n.fem | bee | ASD/RPN | |
| bini | n.neut | bee | CDC | |
| Middle High German: | biben | vb | to tremble | CDC |
| bīn, bīe | n.fem | bee | ASD/CDC | |
| bin(e) | n.neut | bee | CDC | |
| German: | beben | vb | to tremble | CDC |
| Biene, Beie | n.fem | bee | ASD | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | bý | n.neut | bee | ASD |
| bý-fluga | n.fem | bee-fly | ASD | |
| Icelandic: | bifa | vb | to tremble | CDC |
| bȳ | n | bee | CDC | |
| Danish: | bi | n.neut | bee | ASD/CDC |
| Swedish: | bi | n.neut | bee | ASD/CDC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | fūcus, fūci | n.masc | drone bee | LRC |
| Baltic | ||||
| Old Prussian: | bitte | n | bee | LRC |
| Lithuanian: | bijoti | vb | to fear | CDC |
| bìtė | n.fem | bee | RPN | |
| bitynas | n.masc | apiary | LD | |
| Latvian: | bite | n.fem | bee | LRC |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | bojati | vb | to fear | CDC |
| bьčela | n | bee | RPN | |
| Russian: | bojatĭ | vb | to fear | CDC |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | φοβέω | vb | to terrify | LRC |
| Iranian | ||||
| Baluchi: | bēnog | n | honey | RPN |
| Dameli: | bin | n | honey | RPN |
| binaká | n | bee | RPN | |
| Shumashti: | bəen | n | honey | RPN |
| Pashayi: | bēn | n | honey | RPN |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | bhī | vb | to fear | CDC |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| 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) |
| LD | = | Bronius Piesarskas and Bronius Svecevicius: Lithuanian Dictionary (1994) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |