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: 3. sp(h)ē(i)-, spī-, and sphē- : sphə- 'to fatten, prosper, succeed, etc.'
Semantic Field(s): to Grow, Good Fortune
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | spēd | n.fem | means, riches, success, prosperity | LRC |
| spic, spec(a), spēc | n | speck | ASD/KEW | |
| spōwan | vb | to succeed | GED | |
| Middle English: | despeiren | vb | to despair | W7 |
| esperaunce | n | esperance | W7 | |
| prosperen | vb | to prosper | W7 | |
| space | n | space | W7 | |
| spede | n | speed | W7 | |
| English: | despair | vb | to lose hope/confidence | AHD/W7 |
| esperance | n | hope, expectation | AHD/W7 | |
| prosper | vb | to succeed | AHD/W7 | |
| prosperous | adj | successful, auspicious, favorable | W7 | |
| space | n | area, volume, open/empty tract | TLL | |
| spatial | adj | re: space, physical dimensions | TLL | |
| speck | n | fat, lard, bacon, fatty meat | OED | |
| speed | n | success, prosperity in undertaking | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Middle Dutch: | spec | n | speck | OED |
| Dutch: | spek | n | speck | OED |
| Old Saxon: | spek | n | speck | KSW |
| Middle Low German: | speck | n | speck | OED |
| Old High German: | fera | n.str.fem | side, part | GED |
| fiara | n.str.fem | side, part | GED | |
| spek, spec(h) | n | speck | KDW/OED | |
| spuo(a)n | vb.wk | to succeed | ASD/GED | |
| spuot | n | speed, prosperity | W7 | |
| Middle High German: | spec | n | speck | OED |
| German: | Speck | n | speck | TLL |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | spik | n | speck | KNW |
| Danish: | spæk | n | speck | SAO |
| Middle Swedish: | späk | n | speck | OED |
| Swedish: | späck | n | speck | SAO |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | fera | n.fem | side/limb/member of body; region | GED |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | despero, desperāre | vb | to be desperate | W7 |
| prospero, prosperāre | vb | to cause to succeed | W7 | |
| prosperus | adj | favorable | W7 | |
| spatium, spatii | n.neut | space, room | LRC | |
| spero, sperāre | vb | to hope | W7 | |
| spēs, spei | n.fem | hope, expectation | GED | |
| Spanish: | espacio | n | space | TLL |
| esperar | vb | to hope | TLL | |
| Old French: | espace | n | space | W7 |
| Middle French: | desperer | vb | to despair, be desperate | W7 |
| esperance | n.fem | esperance | W7 | |
| prospérer | vb | to grow, prosper | W7 | |
| prospereux | adj | prosperous | W7 | |
| French: | espace | n | space | TLL |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | spėrus | adj | rapid, energetic | GED |
| spėti | vb | to be capable, fast enough | GED | |
| Latvian: | spẽt | vb | to be able | GED |
| spietošana | n.fem | swarming | LRC | |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | spěti | vb | to flourish | GED |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | spā́yate | vb | to increase, become fat | GED |
| spirá- | adj | fat | GED | |
| sphīta- | adj | abundant | GED | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| 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) |
| GED | = | Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986) |
| KDW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 4th ed. (1993) |
| KEW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003) |
| KNW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003) |
| KSW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed. (2000) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| OED | = | James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933) |
| SAO | = | Swedish Academy: Svenska Akademiens Ordbok (2011) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
