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)

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