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. seku̯- 'to see, notice; show, say, speak'
Semantic Field(s): to See, to Show, to Say, to Speak, Talk
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | gesēon, geseah, gesǣgon, gesegen | vb.str.V | to see, observe | LRC |
| gesiht, gesi(e)hþ, gesyhþ | n.fem | sight, vision, power of seeing | ASD/W7 | |
| saga, sagu | n.masc/fem | saw/saga, speech | ASD | |
| secg(e)an, sægde, sægd | vb.wk.III | to say, tell (a tale), recite (a poem) | ASD | |
| secgg(e)an, sæcgan | vb.wk.III | to say, tell (a tale), recite (a poem) | ASD | |
| sēon, seah, sǣgon, segen | vb.str.V | to see, look | LRC | |
| Middle English: | gainsayen | vb | to gainsay | W7 |
| sawe | n | saw | W7 | |
| sayen | vb | to say | W7 | |
| scald | n | scold | W7 | |
| scold | n | scold | W7 | |
| seen | vb | to see | W7 | |
| sight | n | sight | W7 | |
| English: | gainsay, gainsaid | vb.wk.trans | to deny, dispute | AHD/W7 |
| saga | n | tale, story, narrative | AHD | |
| saw | n | maxim, saying, proverb | AHD/W7 | |
| say, said | vb.wk | to state, express in words | AHD/W7 | |
| scold | n | one addicted to ribald abusive speech | AHD/W7 | |
| see, saw, seen | vb.str | to perceive by eye/sight | AHD/W7 | |
| sight | n | spectacle, something seen | AHD/W7 | |
| sight | vb.trans | to get/catch view of | W7 | |
| skald | n | bard, ancient Scandinavian poet/historiographer | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | sega, sedsa | vb | to say, tell | ASD |
| sia | vb | to see | ASD | |
| Dutch: | zeggen | vb | to say, tell | LRC |
| zien | vb | to see | LRC | |
| Old Saxon: | seggian | vb | to say, tell | ASD |
| sehan | vb | to see | ASD | |
| Old High German: | gisiht | n | sight | W7 |
| saga, sega | n.fem | saw/saga, speech | ASD | |
| sagēn | vb | to say, tell | W7 | |
| sehan | vb | to see | W7 | |
| German: | Gesicht | n.neut | sight; face, visage | LRC |
| Sage | n.fem | saga, history | LRC | |
| sagen | vb | to say | LRC | |
| sehen | vb | to see | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | saga | n.fem | saw/saga, history | LRC |
| segja, sagða | vb | to say, speak; tell, relate | LRC | |
| sjá | vb | to see, perceive; look, find; understand | LRC | |
| skāld | n | skald | W7 | |
| Icelandic: | saga | n | saga | ASD |
| seg(g)ja | vb | to say, tell | ASD | |
| sjá | vb | to see | ASD | |
| skālda | vb | to make scurrilous verse | W7 | |
| sög | n.fem | saw | ASD | |
| Danish: | se | vb | to see | LRC |
| sige | vb | to say, tell | LRC | |
| sigte | vb | to sight | LRC | |
| Swedish: | se | vb | to see | LRC |
| sikta | vb | to sight | LRC | |
| säga | vb | to say, tell | LRC | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | saíƕan | vb.str.V | to see | LRC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | inquam | vb.defc | to say | LRC |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | ennepein | vb | to speak, tell | W7 |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| III | = | class 3 |
| V | = | class 5 |
| defc | = | defective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| trans | = | transitive |
| vb | = | verb |
| wk | = | weak (inflection) |
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 |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |