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) |