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: merk̑- 'to grab, seize'
Semantic Field(s): to Grasp, Seize, Take Hold of
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Middle English: | marchant | n | merchant | W7 |
| market | n | market | W7 | |
| mart | n | mart | W7 | |
| mercenary | n | mercenary | W7 | |
| mercer | n | mercer | W7 | |
| mercurie | n | mercury | W7 | |
| mercy | n | mercy | W7 | |
| English: | commerce | n | social intercourse: exchange of ideas/opinions/sentiments | AHD/W7 |
| market | n | meeting of people for trade purposes via private sale/purchase | AHD/W7 | |
| mart | n | fair, gathering of people to buy/sell | AHD/W7 | |
| mercenary | n | one who serves merely for wages | AHD/W7 | |
| mercer | n | dealer in textile fabrics | AHD/W7 | |
| merchant | n | trader, buyer/seller of commodities | AHD/W7 | |
| Mercury | prop.n | [planet named for] herald/messenger of gods (Roman mythology) | AHD/W7 | |
| mercury | n | heavy poisonous silver-white metal | W7 | |
| mercy | n | clemency, compassion/forbearance shown to subject/offender | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Middle Dutch: | mar(c)t | n | mart, market | W7 |
| Dutch: | markt | n | mart, market | TLL |
| German: | Markt | n.masc | mart | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Swedish: | marknad | n | market | TLL |
| Italic | ||||
| Oscan: | amiricadut | adj | without remuneration | W7 |
| Latin: | commercium | n.neut | dealing, selling | W7 |
| mercenarius | adj | who has wages | W7 | |
| merces, mercedes | n.pl | wages | W7 | |
| mercor, mercāri, mercātus | vb | to buy, trade | W7 | |
| Mercurius | prop.n.masc | Mercury | ELD | |
| merx, mercis | n.fem | merchandise | W7 | |
| Vulgar Latin: | mercatans, mercatantis | vb.pres.ptc/n | trading; merchant | W7 |
| mercato, mercatāre | vb | to trade | W7 | |
| Medieval Latin: | merces, mercedes | n.fem | price in exchange, ranson, mercy | W7 |
| Old French: | marcheant | n.masc | merchant | W7 |
| merci | n.fem | mercy | W7 | |
| mercier | n.masc | mercer | W7 | |
| mers | n.fem | merchandise | W7 | |
| Old North French: | market | n.masc | market | W7 |
| Middle French: | commerce | n.masc | commerce, dealing, selling | W7 |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| pl | = | plural (number) |
| pres | = | present (tense) |
| prop | = | proper |
| ptc | = | participle |
| 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) |
| ELD | = | Charlton T. Lewis: An Elementary Latin Dictionary (1999) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
