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: bhlē-   'to bleat, weep, howl'

Semantic Field(s): Sound (n), to Cry, Weep, Loud

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
English  
Old English: bellan vb to roar W7
blǣtan vb to bleat W7
blagettan, blǣgettan vb to cry, shriek, scream IEW
Middle English: *blaren, bloren vb to blare, cry, weep CDC
bleren vb to blare W7
bleten vb to bleat W7
feble adj feeble W7
English: blare vb to sound loud/strident AHD/W7
bleat vb to emit natural cry of sheep/goat AHD/W7
feeble adj markedly lacking in strength AHD/W7
Scots English: blair, bleir vb to cry, weep, blare CDC
West Germanic  
Middle Dutch: blaren, blaeren vb to low, bleat, blare CDC
bleten vb to bleat ASD
Dutch: blaren vb to bleat, blare IEW
bleeten, blāten vb to bleat ASD
Middle Low German: blarren vb to blare CDC
bleten vb to bleat CDC
Low German: blar(r)en vb to blare CDC
bleten vb to bleat CDC
Old High German: blāzan vb to bleat ASD
Middle High German: blāzen vb to bleat CDC
blēren, blerren vb to cry, bleat, blare IEW
German: bellen vb to bark, boom LRC
blarren, blärren vb to blare CDC
blässen vb to bleat IEW
blätzen vb to bleat CDC
blöken vb to bleat, bellow CDC
plär(r)en vb to blare, bawl IEW
Italic  
Latin: bālō, bālāre vb to bleat CDC
flebilis adj wretched, lamentable W7
fleo, flēre vb to weep W7
Old French: feble adj feeble W7
Hellenic  
Doric: βληχή n.fem bleating, wailing CDC
Greek: βληχάομαι vb to bleat LS

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
fem=feminine (gender)
n=noun
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)
IEW=Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS=Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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