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)el- 'to cut, split, spall, tear off; board'
Semantic Field(s): to Cut, to Split, to Tear, Board
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | speld | n.str.neut | torch, piece of wood | GED |
| spelt | n.masc | spelt | W7 | |
| spillan | vb.wk | to spill | ASD/W7 | |
| Middle English: | despoylen | vb | to despoil | W7 |
| spalle | n | spall | W7 | |
| spelt | n | spelt | W7 | |
| spillen | vb | to spill | W7 | |
| spoile | n | spoil | W7 | |
| spoilen | vb | to spoil | W7 | |
| English: | despoil | vb.trans | to pillage, strip of belongings/possessions | AHD/W7 |
| spale | n | chip/strip/splinter of wood | OED | |
| spall | n | chip/splinter of rock/ore | OED | |
| spall | vb | to chip/split/break (rock/ore) into smaller pieces | OED | |
| spelt | n | wheat | AHD/W7 | |
| spelter | n | zinc (cast in slabs) | IEW/W7 | |
| spill, spilt | vb.wk | to kill, destroy | AHD/W7 | |
| spoil, spoilt | vb.wk | to strip, despoil | AHD/W7 | |
| spoil | n | loot, plunder taken from victim/enemy | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | speld | n | pin | TLL |
| Middle Low German: | spalden | vb | to spall | GED |
| spelderen | n.pl | split-off pieces of wood | GED | |
| spolden | vb | to split | GED | |
| Old High German: | spaltan | vb | to spall, cleave | RPN |
| spalten | vb.wk | to spall, cleave | GED | |
| Middle High German: | spelte | n.wk.fem | split-off piece of wood (e.g. lance splinter) | GED |
| German: | Spalte | n.fem | rift, crack | LRC |
| spellen | vb | to spall, cleave | OED | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | spilla, spillat | vb | to spoil, destroy | LRC |
| Old Icelandic: | speld, spjald | n.str | board, slab of wood | GED |
| spǫlr | n.masc | pole | GED | |
| Icelandic: | speld, spjald | n.neut | tablet | ASD |
| spilda | n | flake | ASD | |
| spilla | vb | to spill, spoil | ASD | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | spilda | n.fem | tablet | GED |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | despolio, despoliare | vb | to despoil, plunder | W7 |
| spolio, spoliare | vb | to rob, strip, despoil | W7 | |
| spolium, spolia | n.neut | spoils, booty; splayed hide of animal | GED | |
| Old French: | despoillier | vb | to despoil | W7 |
| Middle French: | espoille | n.fem | spoils, booty | W7 |
| espoillier | vb | to spoil | W7 | |
| Baltic | ||||
| Old Prussian: | spelannxtis | n | sliver | GED |
| Lithuanian: | spãlis | n | flax trimmings | GED |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | platъ | n | rag | GED |
| ra-splatiti | vb | to split | GED | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Hesychius' Greek Lexicon: | σπαλάσσειν | vb | to cut | GED |
| σφαλάσσειν | vb | to cut | GED | |
| σφάλις | n | scissors | GED | |
| Greek: | σφάλλω | vb | to fell, trip up | LS |
| Iranian | ||||
| Kashmiri: | phālawun | vb | to split, cleave | RPN |
| phalun | vb | to be split | RPN | |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | phálati | vb | to burst, split, cleave | GED |
| spháṭati | vb | to burst, expand | RPN | |
| sphaṭati | vb | to burst | GED | |
| sphuṭati | vb | to burst, split | GED | |
| Marathi: | phāḷṇẽ | vb | to tear | RPN |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| pl | = | plural (number) |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| trans | = | transitive |
| 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) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| LS | = | Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev. |
| OED | = | James A.H. Murray et al: The Oxford English Dictionary (1933) |
| RPN | = | Allan R. Bomhard: Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic (2002) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
