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. rebh- 'to roof, thatch'
Semantic Field(s): Roof
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | rib(b) | n.neut | rib | ASD |
| Middle English: | rib | n | rib | W7 |
| riff | n | reef (of sail) | W7 | |
| English: | reef | n | chain/ridge of rocks/sand at/near water surface | AHD/W7 |
| reef | n | part of sail pulled in/out to regulate size | AHD/W7 | |
| rib | n | curved bony/cartilaginous rod helping stiffen vertebrate body walls | AHD/W7 | |
| spareribs | n.pl | pork ribs separated from bacon strip | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | rib | n | rib | TLL |
| rif | n | reef (of rock/sand) | W7 | |
| Middle Low German: | ribbe | n | rib | W7 |
| ribbesper | n | spareribs: (pickled) spit-roasted pork ribs | W7 | |
| Low German: | ribbesper | n | spareribs: (pickled) spit-roasted pork ribs | W7 |
| Old High German: | rippa | n.fem | rib | ASD |
| rippi | n.str.neut | rib | ASD | |
| German: | Riff | n.neut | reef | LRC |
| Rippe | n.fem | rib | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | rif | n.neut | rib; reef | LRC |
| Icelandic: | rif | n.neut | rib | ASD |
| Danish: | ribben | n | rib | TLL |
| Swedish: | revben | n | rib | TLL |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | ἐρέφω | vb | to roof over, make a roof | LRC |
| ὀροφή | n.fem | roof | LRC | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| pl | = | plural (number) |
| 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) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
