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: 1. bhlē̆i- : bhləi- : bhlī- 'to shine, glitter'
Semantic Field(s): to Shine, Glisten
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | blāc | adj | bright, white | RPN |
| blēo | n.str | form, hue, color, visage | GED/RPN | |
| blīcan | vb | to shine, glitter | RPN | |
| blis(s), blys(s) | n.str.fem | bliss | ASD/GED | |
| blīþe | adj | blithe | GED | |
| blīþian | vb.wk | to rejoice | GED | |
| blīþs, blīds | n.str.fem | bliss | ASD/GED | |
| Middle English: | ble(o) | n | hue, radiance, complexion | MEV |
| blis(se), blys(se) | n | bliss | MEV/W7 | |
| blith(e), bliþe, blyþe, blythe | adj | blithe | CDC/MEV/W7 | |
| English: | bliss | n | joy, gladness, happiness | GED |
| blithe | adj | glad, happy, pleasant, lighthearted | GED | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | *blīde, blīd- | adj | blithe | CDC/GED |
| bli(e) | n.str | color | GED | |
| blika | vb | to shine, glitter | ASD | |
| Frisian: | blike | vb | to shine, appear | ASD |
| North Frisian: | blid | adj | kind, merciful | CDC |
| Dutch: | blij(de) | adj | kind, merciful | CDC |
| Old Saxon: | blī | n | lead (metal) | KSW |
| blī | n.str | color | GED | |
| blīdōn, blīthōn | vb.wk | to rejoice | GED | |
| blīdsea, blīzza, blītzea | n.fem | bliss | CDC/GED | |
| blīdsean | vb.wk | to delight | GED | |
| blikan | vb | to shine, glitter | ASD | |
| blīthi | adj | blithe | GED | |
| Old High German: | arblichan | vb | to blanch, shine by exposure | ASD |
| blīden | vb.wk | to rejoice | GED | |
| blīdi | adj | blithe | GED | |
| blīo | n | lead (metal) | KDW | |
| blīzzen | vb.wk | to delight | GED | |
| Middle High German: | blichen | vb | to shine, glitter | ASD |
| blīde | adj | kind, merciful | CDC | |
| German: | Blei | n.neut | lead (metal) | TLL |
| bleich | adj | pale, faint; sheer | LRC | |
| Bleistift | n.masc | lead pencil | LRC | |
| erbleichen | vb | to blanch, shine by exposure | ASD | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | blik(j)a | vb | to shine, glitter | ASD |
| blý | n | lead (metal) | KNW | |
| Old Icelandic: | blīðr | adj | mild, pleasant (of weather) | GED |
| Icelandic: | blīdhr | adj | kind, merciful | CDC |
| Danish: | blid | adj | kind, merciful | CDC |
| bly | n | lead (metal) | TLL | |
| Swedish: | blid | adj | kind, merciful | CDC |
| bly | n | lead (metal) | TLL | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | bleiþs | adj | kind, merciful | GED |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | blizgú | vb | to shine | ASD |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | blědъ | adj | light green, yellow | RPN |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| vb | = | verb |
| wk | = | weak (inflection) |
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) |
| GED | = | Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986) |
| KDW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 4th ed. (1993) |
| KNW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003) |
| KSW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed. (2000) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| MEV | = | J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
