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) |