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)

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