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: ghen- 'to grind, crack open, gnaw to pieces'
Semantic Field(s): to Grind, to Open, to Bite
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | gnæt(t) | n.masc | gnat | ASD/W7 |
| gnagan | vb.str | to gnaw | ASD/RPN | |
| gnīdan | vb | to rub, pulverize | RPN | |
| gnidel | n | pestle | RPN | |
| Middle English: | gnacchen | vb | to gnash | RPN |
| gnāsten | vb | to gnash teeth | RPN | |
| gnāstinge | vb.ger | gnashing | RPN | |
| gnat | n | gnat | W7 | |
| gnawen | vb | to gnaw | W7 | |
| English: | gnat | n | small two-winged fly | AHD/W7 |
| (g)natter | vb.dial | to fret, grumble | AHD/OED | |
| gnaw | vb | to bite/chew with teeth | AHD/W7 | |
| nag | vb | to complain, find fault constantly | AHD/W7 | |
| nosh | n | snack, light meal | AHD | |
| nosh | vb | to eat snack/light meal | AHD | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| East Frisian: | gnīsen, knīsen | vb | to gnash teeth | RPN |
| Old Saxon: | gnagan | vb | to gnaw | RPN |
| Old High German: | (g)nagan, ginagan | vb | to gnaw | ASD/RPN |
| gnītan | vb | to rub, break | ASD | |
| German: | nagen | vb | to gnaw | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | gnaga | vb | to gnaw | W7 |
| gnýr | n.masc | clash, din | LRC | |
| Old Icelandic: | gnaga | vb | to gnaw | RPN |
| gnastan | n | a gnashing | RPN | |
| gniða | vb | to rub, scrape | RPN | |
| gníst | n | a gnashing | RPN | |
| gnísta | vb | to gnash teeth, snarl | RPN | |
| gnístan | n | gnashing of teeth | RPN | |
| gnúa | vb | to rub | RPN | |
| Icelandic: | (g)naga | vb | to gnaw | ASD |
| Old Danish: | gnistre | vb | to grate | RPN |
| Danish: | gnide | vb | to rub, break | ASD |
| Swedish: | gnaga | vb | to gnaw | RPN |
| gnissla | vb | to grate | RPN | |
| gnō | vb | to rub | RPN | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | χναῦμα | n | slice, tidbit | RPN |
| χναύω | vb | to nibble | RPN | |
| χνίει | vb | to break/crush into small pieces | RPN | |
| Iranian | ||||
| Avestan: | aiwi-γnixta- | adj | gnawed, nibbled, eaten | RPN |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| dial | = | dialectal |
| ger | = | gerund(ive) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| 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) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| OED | = | James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933) |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |