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: 2. ghrebh- 'to dig, grub, grave, scratch'
Semantic Field(s): to Dig, Delve, to Rub
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | græf, graf | n.str.neut | grave | ASD/GED |
| græft | n | sculpture, carved object | RPN | |
| grafan | vb.str | to grave, bury | GED/RPN | |
| grafere | n | carver, sculptor | RPN | |
| grafu | n.fem | hollow | GED | |
| Middle English: | grave | n | grave | W7 |
| graven | vb | to grave | W7 | |
| groof | n | groove | W7 | |
| grubbe | n | grub, insect | W7 | |
| grubben | vb | to dig, grub | W7 | |
| English: | engrave | vb.trans | to form (on wood/metal) by incision | AHD/W7 |
| graben | n | depressed segment of earth's crust bounded on sides by faults | AHD/W7 | |
| grave | n | excavation for burial of body | AHD/W7 | |
| grave | vb.trans | to dig, excavate | AHD/W7 | |
| gravlax | n | salmon cured in salt/sugar/dill | AHD | |
| gravure | n | process for producing printing plate on wood/copper | AHD/W7 | |
| groove | n | long narrow channel/depression | AHD/W7 | |
| grub | n | soft thick wormlike insect larva | AHD/W7 | |
| grub | vb | to clear by digging out roots/stumps | AHD/W7 | |
| Grubb | prop.n | hobbit surname in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | greb | n | grave | ASD |
| gref | n.str.neut | grave | GED | |
| greva | vb | to grave | GED | |
| grova | vb | to grovel | GED | |
| Old Saxon: | (bi-)graƀan | vb | to grave | ASD |
| graf | n.str.neut | grave | GED | |
| Old High German: | grab | n | grave | W7 |
| graba | n.wk.fem | spade | GED/RPN | |
| graban | vb | to grave, bury | RPN | |
| graft, grefti | n.fem | carving, sculpture | ASD | |
| grap | n.str.neut | grave | GED | |
| grubilōn | vb.wk | to dig, bury | GED | |
| German: | Grab | n.neut | grave | ASD |
| graben | vb | to grave, trench | W7 | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | grafa | vb.str | to grave, bury; inlay, engrave | GED |
| Old Icelandic: | grufla | vb | to grovel | GED |
| græfr | adj | to be buried | GED | |
| grǫf | n.fem | grave, hollow | GED | |
| Icelandic: | grafa | vb | to grave | ASD |
| graflax | n | gravlax | LRC | |
| gröf | n.fem | grave | ASD | |
| Norwegian: | gravlaks | n | gravlax | LRC |
| gruvla | vb | to grovel | GED | |
| Danish: | gravlaks | n | gravlax | LRC |
| grævling | n | badger | TLL | |
| Swedish: | grǣva | vb | to grave | GED |
| grävling | n | badger | TLL | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | *bi-graban | vb.str.VI | to surround (with a rampart) | GED |
| *graba | n.fem | rampart | GED | |
| graban | vb.str.VI | to grave | GED/RPN | |
| *grōba | n.fem | hole | GED/RPN | |
| *uf-graban | vb.str.VI | to dig up | GED | |
| *us-graban | vb.str.VI | to dig out | GED/RPN | |
| Italic | ||||
| Middle French: | engraver | vb | to engrave | W7 |
| French: | gravure | n.fem | (art of) engraving | W7 |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | grėbiu, grėbti | vb | to rake | RPN |
| grėblẽlis | n | rake | RPN | |
| Latvian: | greblis | n | rake, scraper | GED |
| grebt | vb | to scrape, hollow out | GED | |
| Slavic | ||||
| Serbo-Croatian: | grèbtsi | vb | to scratch | RPN |
| Old Church Slavonic: | greti, grebǫ, grebeši | vb | to scrape, scratch | GED |
| grobъ | n.masc | grave, ditch | LRC | |
| pogreti, pogrebǫ, pogrebeši | vb | to bury | LRC | |
| Russian: | grábli | n | rake | RPN |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| VI | = | class 6 |
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| trans | = | transitive |
| vb | = | verb |
| wk | = | weak (inflection) |
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) |
| GED | = | Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
