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: g̑embh-, g̑m̥bh-, g̑ombhos 'to bite; tooth'
Semantic Field(s): to Bite, Tooth
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | ācumba | n | oakum | W7 |
| camb | n.masc/fem | comb | ASD/RPN | |
| cemban, cæmban | vb | to comb | ASD/RPN | |
| Middle English: | camb, comb | n | comb | W7 |
| chime | n | chime | W7 | |
| gemme | n | gem | W7 | |
| okum | n | oakum | W7 | |
| English: | cam | n | non-circular roller imparting motion to piece sliding against its edge | AHD/W7 |
| chime | n | apparatus for ringing bell(s) | AHD/W7 | |
| comb | n | toothed instrument used to clean/adjust/confine hair | AHD/W7 | |
| gem | n | jewel | AHD/W7 | |
| gemma | n | bud, asexual reproductive plant body | AHD/W7 | |
| gemmate | adj | re: gemma | AHD/W7 | |
| gemmule | n | small bud | AHD/W7 | |
| gomphosis | n | immovable articulation where hard part (e.g. tooth) is received into bone cavity (e.g. jaw) | AHD/W7 | |
| kame | n | short hill/ridge of sand/gravel deposited by glacial meltwater | AHD/W7 | |
| oakum | n | loose hemp/jute fiber from old ropes | AHD/W7 | |
| unkempt | adj | not neat, lit. uncombed | ODE | |
| Scots English: | kame | n | comb | W7 |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Frisian: | kaem | n | comb | ASD |
| Dutch: | kam | n.masc | comb | ASD |
| Old Saxon: | camb | n.masc | comb | ASD |
| Old High German: | kamb, champ | n | comb | RPN |
| kamp(o) | n.masc | comb | ASD | |
| Middle High German: | kambe | n.fem | comb | ASD |
| kamp | n.masc | comb | ASD | |
| German: | Kamm | n.masc | comb | ASD/W7 |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Icelandic: | kambr | n | comb | RPN |
| Icelandic: | kambr | n.masc | comb | ASD |
| Danish: | kam | n.masc/fem | comb | ASD |
| Swedish: | kam | n.masc | comb | ASD |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | cymbalum | n.neut | cymbal | W7 |
| gemma | n.fem | gem; gemma | W7 | |
| gemmula | n.fem.dim | little gem | W7 | |
| New Latin: | gomphosis | n.fem | gomphosis | W7 |
| Old French: | chimbe | n.masc | chime | W7 |
| Middle French: | gemme | n.fem | gem, precious stone | W7 |
| French: | came | n.fem | cam | W7 |
| gemmule | n.fem | gemmule, bud of plant embryo | R1/W7 | |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | žam̃bas | n | pointed object | RPN |
| Latvian: | zùobs | n | tooth | RPN |
| Slavic | ||||
| Polish: | ząb | n | tooth | RPN |
| Old Church Slavonic: | zǫbъ | n | tooth | RPN |
| Albanian | ||||
| Albanian: | dhëmb | n | tooth | RPN |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | γομφίος | n | grinder-tooth | RPN |
| gomphos | n.masc | nail, bolt, joint, pin, articulation | W7 | |
| gomphōsis | n.fem | a bolting together | W7 | |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | jámbha-ḥ | n.masc | tooth | ASD/RPN |
| jámbhate, jábhate | vb | to chew up, crush | RPN | |
| Tocharian | ||||
| Tocharian B: | keme | n | tooth | RPN |
| Tocharian A: | kam | n | tooth | RPN |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| dim | = | diminutive |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| 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) |
| ODE | = | C.T. Onions: The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1966) |
| R1 | = | Josette Rey-Debove and Alain Rey, eds. Le Nouveau Petit Robert (1993) |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
