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. bhel-, chiefly with suffixes: bheləg̑-, bhelə-n-g̑-, bheleg̑-, bhl̥k̑- 'balk, beam, rafter'
Semantic Field(s): Beam
Indo-European Reflexes:
Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Celtic | ||||
Gaelic: | balc | n | balk, ridge of earth between furrows | ASD |
English | ||||
Old English: | balc | n | balk: ridge | CDC |
balca | n.masc | balk | ASD | |
bolca | n | gangway | CDC | |
Middle English: | balk(e) | n | balk | CDC/W7 |
balken | vb | to plow in ridges | AHD | |
English: | balcony | n | railed platform projecting from wall | AHD/W7 |
balk | n | beam; bank, unplowed land ridge | AHD/W7 | |
balk | vb | to stop short, refuse to go | AHD | |
debauch | vb.trans | to make disloyal | AHD/W7 | |
fulcrum | n | prop | AHD/W7 | |
phalange | n | finger bone | AHD/W7 | |
phalanx | n | heavily armed infantry in close/deep ranks/files | AHD/W7 | |
West Germanic | ||||
Old Frisian: | balka | n | balk | CDC |
Old Dutch: | balke | n | balk | CDC |
Dutch: | balk | n.masc | balk | ASD |
balkon | n | balcony | TLL | |
Old Saxon: | balko | n.masc | balk | ASD |
Middle Low German: | balke | n | balk | CDC |
Low German: | balke | n | corn loft | CDC |
Old High German: | balcho, balko | n.masc | balk | ASD |
Middle High German: | balke | n.masc | balk | ASD |
German: | Balken | n.masc | balk | LRC |
Balkon | n.masc | balcony | LRC | |
North Germanic | ||||
Old Norse: | bálkr | n.masc | balk | ASD |
Icelandic: | bālkr, bōlkr | n | balk: ridge | CDC |
bjālki | n | balk: beam | CDC | |
Norwegian: | balk, bolk | n | balk: beam, bar | CDC |
Danish: | balk | n | balk: ridge, partition | CDC |
balkon | n | balcony | TLL | |
bjälke | n.masc | balk: beam | ASD | |
Swedish: | balk | n | balk: beam, bar | CDC |
balkong | n | balcony | TLL | |
bjelke | n.masc | balk | ASD | |
bjälk | n | balk: beam | CDC | |
Italic | ||||
Latin: | fulcio, fulcīre | vb | to prop | W7 |
fulcrum | n.neut | bedpost | W7 | |
phalanx, phalangis | n.fem | phalanx (Greek word) | W7 | |
Old French: | desbauchier | vb | to scatter, roughhew (timber) | W7 |
Middle French: | debaucher | vb | to debauch, render immoral | W7 |
French: | balcon | n | balcony | CDC |
phalange | n.fem | phalange | W7 | |
Old Italian: | balcone | n | balcony, scaffold | AHD |
Italian: | balco | n | balk: beam | CDC |
balcone | n.masc | balcony | W7 | |
Hellenic | ||||
Homeric Greek: | φάλαγξ, φάλαγγος | n.fem | phalanx, battle line | LRC |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
Abbrev. | Meaning | |
---|---|---|
fem | = | feminine (gender) |
masc | = | masculine (gender) |
n | = | noun |
neut | = | neuter (gender) |
trans | = | transitive |
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) |
LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |