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: 3. mā 'ma, mama (nursery words)'
Semantic Field(s): Mother
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| English: | ma | n | mama | W7 |
| maiasaur | n | duck-billed dinosaur | AHD | |
| maieutic | adj | re: Socratic method | AHD/W7 | |
| mama | n | mother | W7 | |
| mamma | n | mammary gland and accessory parts | AHD/W7 | |
| mammal | n | vertebrate that nourishes young with mammary milk | AHD/W7 | |
| mammilla | n | teat, nipple | AHD | |
| mom | n | mama | W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| German: | Mami | n.neut | mama | LRC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | mamma | n.fem | breast | W7 |
| mammilla | n.fem.dim | mammilla | AHD | |
| Late Latin: | mammalis | adj | re: breast | W7 |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | maieutikos | adj | re: midwifery | W7 |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| dim | = | diminutive |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
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) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
