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. bhrē̆u-, bhrū̆- 'to break, cut, pierce'
Semantic Field(s): to Break, to Cut
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | brēotan, brēat, bruton, broten | vb.str | to break, bruise | ASD/W7 |
| brēoðan | vb | to waste away | W7 | |
| bryt(t)a | n.masc | lord, prince; giver, bestower, distributor | LRC | |
| brytti(g)an, brittian, brytian | vb | to rule, give, divide, dispense | ASD | |
| Middle English: | brethen | vb | to waste away, go to ruin | W7 |
| britil | adj | brittle | W7 | |
| brothel | n | brothel | W7 | |
| brothen | vb.ptc | ruined, wasted away | W7 | |
| English: | brittle | adj | easily broken/cracked/snapped | AHD/W7 |
| brothel | n | house of prostitution | AHD/W7 | |
| Brytta | prop.n | 11th Rohan king a.k.a. Leofa in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old High German: | bretōn | vb | to break, bruise | ASD |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | braut | n.fem | road | LRC |
| Old Icelandic: | briōta | vb | to break | IEW |
| Icelandic: | brjōta | vb | to break, bruise | ASD |
| brytja | vb | to chop, cut in pieces | ASD | |
| Danish: | bryde | vb | to break, bruise | ASD |
| Swedish: | bryta | vb | to break, bruise | ASD |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | bhrūna | n | embryo | W7 |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| prop | = | proper |
| ptc | = | participle |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| 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) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
