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: 8. el-, elē̆i-, lē̆i-, olī̆nā 'to bend; elbow'
Semantic Field(s): to Bend, Elbow
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Old Irish: | uilenn | n | elbow | AHD |
| Irish: | uillinn | n | elbow | AHD |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | el(e)boga, elnboga | n.masc | elbow | ASD/W7 |
| eln | n.fem | ell | ASD/W7 | |
| lim | n.neut | limb, joint; branch | IEW | |
| liþ | n | joint, limb, body member | LRC | |
| Middle English: | elbowe | n | elbow | W7 |
| eln | n | ell | W7 | |
| lim | n | limb; branch | W7 | |
| English: | arshin | n | ell | AHD |
| elbow | n | joint of arm | AHD/W7 | |
| ell | n | unit of length: 45 inches | AHD/W7 | |
| limb | n | arm/leg, appendage | W7 | |
| Limlight | prop.n | Rohan border river in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| uilleann | adj | re: elbow-operated Celtic bagpipe | AHD | |
| ulna | n | inner bone of forearm | AHD/W7 | |
| Wandlimb | prop.n | Entwife in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | (i)elne | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| Frisian: | jelne | n | ell | ASD |
| Dutch: | el(le) | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| elleboog | n.masc | elbow | ASD | |
| Old High German: | el(i)na, elle | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| elinbogo | n | elbow | W7 | |
| lid | n | joint, link | LRC | |
| Middle High German: | el(l)enboge | n.masc | elbow | ASD |
| eln(e), ellen, elline | n.fem | ell | ASD | |
| German: | Elle | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| El(len)bogen, Elnbogn | n.masc | elbow | ASD | |
| Glied | n.neut | limb, body member | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | liðr | n.masc | joint | LRC |
| limr | n.str.fem | limb; small branch | IEW | |
| líða | vb | to move, go; pass, progress | LRC | |
| Icelandic: | alin | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| al(n)bogi, olbogi, öl(n)bogi | n.masc | elbow | ASD | |
| lim | n.neut | limb, branch (of tree) | ASD | |
| limr | n.masc | limb, joint (of animal) | ASD | |
| Danish: | albue | n.masc/fem | elbow | ASD |
| alen | n.fem | ell | ASD | |
| led | n | link, joint | LRC | |
| Swedish: | aln | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| led | n | joint | LRC | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | aleina | n.fem | ell | ASD |
| liþus | n | limb, body member | LRC | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | ulna | n.fem | elbow | W7 |
| New Latin: | ulna | n.fem | bone in forearm | W7 |
| Iranian | ||||
| Old Persian: | arašn- | n | arshin | AHD |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| 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) |
