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. mer- 'to flicker, shimmer'
Semantic Field(s): to Shine, Glisten
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | mi(e)rce, myrce | n.neut | mirk, murk | ASD/IEW |
| morgen | n.masc | morrow, morning | W7 | |
| Middle English: | amorwe | adv | on the next day | MEV |
| conformen | vb | to conform | W7 | |
| deformen | vb | to deform | W7 | |
| forme | n | form | W7 | |
| informen | vb | to inform | W7 | |
| mere | adj | mere | W7 | |
| mirke | n | mirk | W7 | |
| morwen, morn, morning | n | morn, morning | W7 | |
| reformen | vb | to reform | W7 | |
| transformen | vb | to transform | W7 | |
| English: | allelomorph | n | allele | AHD/W7 |
| amorphous | adj | shapeless, without form | TLL | |
| conform | vb | to bring into harmony/agreement | AHD/W7 | |
| deform | vb | to spoil form of | AHD/W7 | |
| filiform | adj | shaped like filament | AHD/W7 | |
| -form | adj.sfx | resembling, in form/shape of | AHD/W7 | |
| form | n | shape/structure (as distinguished from material) | AHD/W7 | |
| formal | adj | re: essential structure/constitution | AHD/W7 | |
| formant | n | band/component of speech sound | AHD/W7 | |
| format | n | shape/size/general makeup | AHD/W7 | |
| formula | n | set phrasings for use in ritual/ceremony | AHD/W7 | |
| inform | vb | to impart material form to | AHD/W7 | |
| mere | adj | absolute, undiminished | AHD/W7 | |
| metamorphosis | n | change in physical form/structure/substance | AHD/W7 | |
| mirk | n | murk | W7 | |
| Mirkwood | prop.n | gloomy forest in Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| mirky | adj | murky | W7 | |
| morganatic | adj | re: marriage of social unequals where no titles/estates are shared | AHD | |
| morgen | n | Dutch/southern African land unit | AHD/W7 | |
| morn | n | dawn | AHD/W7 | |
| morning | n | dawn | AHD/W7 | |
| -morph | sfx | form, shape, structure, appearance | AHD | |
| morpheme | n | meaningful linguistic unit | AHD/W7 | |
| morph(o)- | pfx | form, shape, structure, appearance | AHD | |
| morphosis | n | manner in which organism changes form | AHD | |
| morrow | n | morning | AHD/W7 | |
| murk | n | gloom, darkness | AHD/W7 | |
| murky | adj | dark, gloomy | LRC | |
| platform | n | design, plan | AHD/W7 | |
| reform | vb | to amend/improve (e.g. by change of form) | AHD/W7 | |
| transform | vb | to change in structure/composition | AHD/W7 | |
| uniform | adj | invariant, always having same form/manner/degree | AHD/W7 | |
| Scots English: | mirk | n | murk | ASD |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | morn | n | morn | ASD |
| Dutch: | morgen | n | morning | W7 |
| Old Saxon: | mirki | adj | murky | LRC |
| morgan | n | morning | ASD | |
| Old High German: | morgan | n.masc | morning | W7 |
| German: | Allelomorph | n | allelomorph | AHD |
| Format | n.neut | format | W7 | |
| Morgen | n.masc | morning | W7 | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | morginn | n.masc | morning | LRC |
| myrkr | adj | murky | LRC | |
| Old Icelandic: | myrkvi | n.masc | murk | LRC |
| Myrk-viðr | prop.n.masc | east Europe forest, lit. Murk-wood | LRC | |
| Icelandic: | mjörkvi | n | murk, thick fog | ASD |
| morginn | n | morning | ASD | |
| myrkr | n.neut | murk | ASD | |
| Danish: | morgen | n | morning | ASD |
| mörke | n | murk | ASD | |
| Swedish: | morgon | n | morning | ASD |
| mörker | n | murk | TLL | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | maúrgins | n.str.masc | morning | LRC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | conformo, conformare | vb | to shape | W7 |
| deformo, deformare | vb | to deform | W7 | |
| forma | n.fem | form, shape, beauty | W7 | |
| -formis | sfx | shaped | W7 | |
| formō, formāre, formāvī, formātus | vb | to form, shape | W7 | |
| formula | n.fem | beauty, formula | W7 | |
| informo, informare | vb | to form, fashion | W7 | |
| merus | adj | pure, unmixed | W7 | |
| metamorphosis | n.fem | metamorphosis | W7 | |
| reformo, reformāre | vb | to form again | W7 | |
| transformo, transformāre | vb | to change form | W7 | |
| uniformis | adj | of one shape | W7 | |
| Portuguese: | forma | n | form | TLL |
| Spanish: | horma | n | form | TLL |
| Old French: | forme | n.fem | form, shape | W7 |
| Middle French: | conformer | vb | to conform | W7 |
| deformer | vb | to deform | W7 | |
| enformer | vb | to inform | W7 | |
| plate-forme | n.fem | diagram, map, flat form | W7 | |
| reformer | vb | to form again | W7 | |
| uniforme | adj | uniform | W7 | |
| French: | format | n.masc | format | W7 |
| forme | n | form | TLL | |
| morphème | n.masc | morpheme | W7 | |
| Italian: | forma | n | form | TLL |
| Baltic | ||||
| Latvian: | pamirkšķināt, pamirkšķinu, pamirkšķināju | vb | to blink | LRC |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | amorphos | adj | amorphous | AHD |
| μεταμορφόω | vb | to transform | LRC | |
| metamorphōsis | n.fem | metamorphosis, transformation | W7 | |
| morphē | n.fem | form | W7 | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| adv | = | adverb(ial) |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| pfx | = | prefix |
| prop | = | proper |
| sfx | = | suffix |
| 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) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| MEV | = | J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
