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: ku̯erp-, also ku̯erb- 'to turn, wind'
Semantic Field(s): to Turn, to Wind, Wrap
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | hwe(a)rf | n.masc | turn, change, exchange | ASD |
| hwearf | adj | turning, veering, shifting | ASD | |
| hwearft | n.masc | circle, circuit, revolution | ASD | |
| hw(i)erfan, hwearfian | vb.wk | to turn, change, revolve, move about | ASD | |
| hwirfan, hwyrfan | vb.wk | to turn, change, revolve, move about | ASD | |
| Middle English: | whirlegigg | n | whirligig | W7 |
| whirlen | vb | to whirl | W7 | |
| English: | whirl | vb | to turn/curve with force/speed | W7 |
| whirligig | n | child's whirling toy | IEW/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | hwarf, werf | n | turn, change, exchange | ASD |
| hwerva | vb | to walk, change, return | ASD | |
| Old Saxon: | gi-hwerƀian | vb | to turn, change | ASD |
| hwerƀan | vb | to go, wander | ASD | |
| Old High German: | hwarba | n | turn, change, exchange | ASD |
| hwarbian | vb | to change, rotate, return | ASD | |
| hwerban | vb | to walk, change, return | ASD | |
| wirbil | n | whirlwind | W7 | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | hverfa | vb | to turn | LRC |
| hvirfla | vb | to whirl | W7 | |
| Icelandic: | hverfa | vb | to turn | ASD |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | hwairban | vb | to walk | ASD |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| vb | = | verb |
| wk | = | weak (inflection) |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
