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) |