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: kan- 'to sing, chant, sound'
Semantic Field(s): to Sing, Sound (n)
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtic | ||||
| Old Irish: | canim | vb | to sing | RPN |
| English | ||||
| Old English: | hana | n.masc | cock, rooster | ASD/W7 |
| henn | n | hen | W7 | |
| Middle English: | accent | n | accent | AHD |
| canticle | n | canticle | W7 | |
| Chantecleer | prop.n | chanticleer in verse narratives | W7 | |
| chanten | vb | to chant | W7 | |
| chanterie | n | chantry | W7 | |
| charme | n | charm | W7 | |
| dyscant | n | descant | W7 | |
| enchanten | vb | to enchant | W7 | |
| hen | n | hen | W7 | |
| incantacioun | n | incantation | W7 | |
| incentive | n | incentive | W7 | |
| English: | accent | n | distinctive manner of oral expression | AHD/W7 |
| canorous | adj | melodious, sounding pleasantly | AHD/W7 | |
| cant | n | affected singsong speech | AHD/W7 | |
| cant | vb | to speak in cant | AHD/W7 | |
| cantabile | adv | in singing manner | AHD/W7 | |
| cantata | n | choral composition | AHD/W7 | |
| canticle | n | song | AHD/W7 | |
| cantillate | vb.trans | to recite with improvised musical tones | AHD/W7 | |
| canto | n | major division of long poem | AHD/W7 | |
| cantor | n | singer, precentor, choir leader | AHD/W7 | |
| canzone | n | medieval lyric poem of Italy/Provence | AHD/W7 | |
| chant | vb | to sing, make melodic vocal sounds | AHD/W7 | |
| chanteuse | n | female (concert/nightclub) singer | AHD/W7 | |
| chantey | n | sailor's song (sung in rhythm with work) | AHD/W7 | |
| chanticleer | n | cock, rooster | AHD/W7 | |
| chantry | n | endowment for chanting of masses | AHD/W7 | |
| charm | n | incantation, chanting/reciting of magic spell | AHD/W7 | |
| descant | n | melody/counterpoint sung above plainsong of tenor | AHD/W7 | |
| enchant | vb.trans | to bewitch, influence by charms/incantation | AHD/W7 | |
| hen | n | female chicken, (domestic) fowl | AHD/W7 | |
| incantation | n | spells/verbal charms sung/spoken as part of magic ritual | AHD/W7 | |
| incentive | n | something tending to incite action/determination | AHD/W7 | |
| oscine | adj | passerine | AHD/W7 | |
| precentor | n | choral/congregational song leader | AHD/W7 | |
| recant | vb | to renounce, withdraw/repudiate formally/publicly | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | haan | n | cock, rooster | LRC |
| hen | n | hen | LRC | |
| Old Saxon: | hano | n | cock, rooster | ASD |
| Old High German: | hano | n | cock, rooster | ASD |
| German: | Hahn | n.masc | cock, rooster | ASD |
| Henne | n | hen | TLL | |
| Huhn | n | hen | TLL | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Icelandic: | hani | n | cock, rooster | ASD |
| Danish: | hane | n | cock | TLL |
| hen | n | hen | TLL | |
| Swedish: | höna | n | hen | TLL |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | hana | n | cock, rooster | RPN |
| Crimean Gothic: | ano | n | hen, chicken | CGo |
| Italic | ||||
| Umbrian: | kanetu | vb | to chant, play music | RPN |
| Latin: | accentus | n.masc | ascent | W7 |
| canō, canere, cecinī, cantum | vb | to chant, sound, play | RPN | |
| canor | n.masc | melody | W7 | |
| canorus | adj | melodious | W7 | |
| cantata | n.fem | cantata, sung mass, ecclesiastical chant | W7 | |
| canticulum | n.neut.dim | canticle, short song | W7 | |
| canticum | n.neut | cant, song | W7 | |
| cantillo, cantillare, cantillavi, cantillatus | vb | to cant/chant low | W7 | |
| cantio, cantionis | n.fem | cant, song | W7 | |
| canto, cantāre, cantāvī, cantātus | vb | to cant, chant | W7 | |
| cantor | n.masc | cantor | W7 | |
| cantus | n.masc | cant, song | W7 | |
| carmen, carminis | n.neut | song | W7 | |
| incanto, incantare, incantavi, incantatus | vb | to enchant | W7 | |
| incentivus | adj | setting the tune | W7 | |
| incino, incinere | vb | to set the tune | W7 | |
| oscen | n.neut | bird used in divination | W7 | |
| praecino, praecinere, praececini, praecentus | vb | to chant before | W7 | |
| recanto, recantare | vb | to cant/chant again | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | cantabilis | adj | worthy to be chanted | W7 |
| incantatio, incantionis | n.fem | incantation | W7 | |
| incentivum | n.neut | incentive | W7 | |
| incentivus | adj | stimulating | W7 | |
| praecentor | n.masc | choir leader | W7 | |
| Medieval Latin: | discantus | n.masc | song, descant | W7 |
| Portuguese: | cantar | vb | to cant, chant | TLL |
| Spanish: | cantar | vb | to cant, chant | TLL |
| Old French: | accent | n | accent | AHD |
| Chantecler | prop.n.masc | chanticleer in Roman de Renart | W7 | |
| charme | n.masc | charm | W7 | |
| Old North French: | canter | vb | to cant, sing, tell | W7 |
| descant | n.masc | descant | W7 | |
| Middle French: | accent | n.masc | accent | W7 |
| chanter | vb | to chant | W7 | |
| chanterie | n.fem | chanting | W7 | |
| enchanter | vb | to enchant | W7 | |
| incantation | n.fem | incantation | W7 | |
| French: | chanter | vb | to chant | W7 |
| chanteur | n.masc | cantor, male singer | W7 | |
| chanteuse | n.fem | chanteuse | W7 | |
| Italian: | cantabile | adj | singable, song-like | W7 |
| cantare | vb | to cant, chant | TLL | |
| cantata | n.fem | cantata, sung High Mass | W7 | |
| canto | n.masc | cant, song, singing | W7 | |
| canzone | n.fem | song, ballad, canzone | W7 | |
| Baltic | ||||
| Latvian: | kokle | n.fem | traditional musical instrument | LRC |
| skanīga | adj | sonorous | LRC | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | καναχή | n.fem | sharp sound, ring/clang of metal | RPN |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| adv | = | adverb(ial) |
| dim | = | diminutive |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| prop | = | proper |
| trans | = | transitive |
| 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) |
| CGo | = | MacDonald Stearns, Jr: Crimean Gothic (1978) |
| 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) |