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: (s)pel- 'to speak aloud, tell with emphasis'
Semantic Field(s): to Speak, Talk
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | gōd-spel(l) | n.str.neut | gospel | W7 |
| lāð-spell | n.str.neut | painful/grievous story, lit. ill-news | ASD | |
| spell | n.str.neut | tale, speech, story | GED | |
| spellian | vb.wk | to spell, speak, narrate | GED | |
| Middle English: | gospel | n | gospel | W7 |
| spell | n | tale, speech, story | W7 | |
| spellen | vb | to talk, speak, tell a story | W7 | |
| English: | gospel | n | lit. good news | AHD/W7 |
| Láthspell | prop.n | Grima's epithet for Gandalf in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| Morgul-spells | prop.n.pl | evil sorcery in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| spell, spelt | vb.wk | to read slowly (letter-by-letter) | AHD/W7 | |
| spell | n | incantation, words thought to have magical power | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Saxon: | god-spell | n | gospel | ASD |
| spel(l) | n.str | speech, story | ASD/GED | |
| Old Low German: | spell | n | tale, story | ASD |
| Old High German: | got-spel | n | gospel | ASD |
| (got-)spellōn | vb.wk | to speak, narrate | GED | |
| spel(l) | n.str | speech, story | ASD/GED | |
| spelza | n | spelt, corn | ASD | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Icelandic: | spjall | n.str | speech, story | GED |
| spjalla | vb.wk | to speak, narrate | GED | |
| Icelandic: | guð-spjall | n | gospel | ASD |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | *spill | n | myth | GED |
| spilla | n.masc | announcer | GED | |
| spillōn | vb.wk.II | to tell, relate | LRC | |
| Italic | ||||
| Old French: | espeller | vb | to tell, speak | AHD |
| Baltic | ||||
| Latvian: | pel̃t | n | slander | GED |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | ἀ-πειλέω | vb | to boast, threaten | GED |
| ἀ-πειλή | n.fem | boast, threat | GED | |
| Armenian | ||||
| Armenian: | aṙa-spel | n | fable | GED |
| Tocharian | ||||
| Tocharian B: | pāl- | vb | to praise | GED |
| Tocharian A: | päl- | vb | to praise | GED |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| II | = | class 2 |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| pl | = | plural (number) |
| prop | = | proper |
| 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) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
