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: 1. (s)p(h)ē̆i- : (s)p(h)ī̆-   'sharp/pointed stick: spile, spit, etc.'

Semantic Field(s): Sharp, Branch

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
English  
Old English: finn n fin KEW
spāca n.masc spoke W7
spīr n spire W7
spitu n.fem spit W7
Middle English: porkepin n porcupine W7
sperling n sparling W7
spik n head of grain W7
spike n spike W7
spille n spill W7
spine n spine W7
spire n spire W7
spit n spit W7
spoke n spoke W7
English: fin n external (e.g. fish) membrane for moving in water LRC
porcupine n large rodent with stiff sharp erectile hair/bristles AHD/W7
sparling n European smelt AHD/W7
Spica prop.n brightest star in constellation Virgo LRC
spica n spiral reverse plain/plaster bandage immobilizing limb AHD/W7
spiculum n organ having form of spicule AHD/W7
spike n very large nail AHD/W7
spike n ear of grain AHD/W7
spile n pile, large stake driven into ground AHD/W7
spill n wooden splinter AHD/W7
spine n spinal column AHD/W7
spinel n hard crystalline mineral: magnesium/aluminum oxide AHD/W7
spinney n copse, small wood with undergrowth AHD/W7
spire n slender tapering blade/stalk (e.g. of grass) AHD/W7
spit n slender pointed rod holding meat over fire AHD/W7
spitz n stocky heavy-coated northern dog AHD/W7
spoke n small bar radiating from hub of wheel supporting rim AHD/W7
West Germanic  
Middle Dutch: spier n spire, shoot, blade of grass W7
spierlinc n sparling W7
spike n spike W7
Dutch: spier n muscle TLL
spijl n stake W7
vin n fin TLL
Old Low German: spēca n spoke, radius ASD
Old High German: speicha n spoke, radius ASD
spiz n spit ASD
German: Speiche n.fem spoke, radius ASD
spitz adj pointed W7
North Germanic  
Old Icelandic: spík n.fem spike, sprig ICE
Icelandic: spíra n spar ASD
Danish: finne n fin TLL
spig n spike, sprig ICE
spir n spar ASD
spire n spire, sprout ASD
Swedish: fena n fin TLL
spira n spire, pistil; spar, sceptre ASD
Italic  
Latin: Spica prop.n.fem Spica W7
spica n.fem cob, point, acorn W7
spiculum n.neut arrowhead W7
spina, spinae n.fem spine, thorn LRC
Spanish: espina n spine TLL
Middle French: esperling n.masc sparling W7
espinaye n.fem thorny thicket W7
espine n.fem thorn W7
French: épine n spine TLL
Old Italian: porcospino n.masc porcupine W7
Italian: spina n.fem thorn W7
Baltic  
Latvian: spina n twig W7

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
neut=neuter (gender)
prop=proper

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)
ICE=Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson: An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874)
KEW=Gerhard Köbler: Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
TLL=Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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