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. sp(h)er-, sp(h)erə- 'to rush, push away, act rashly, etc.'
Semantic Field(s): to Hurry, Hasten, Fast, Swift, Quick, to Push, Shove
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | spora, spura | n.masc | spur | W7 |
| spurnan, spornan | vb.str | to spurn, kick | ASD/W7 | |
| Middle English: | spore, spure | n | spur | W7 |
| spurnen | vb | to spurn | W7 | |
| English: | hemisphere | n | half-sphere; one-half of Earth | TLL |
| sphere | n | ball, round object | LRC | |
| spoor | n | track/trail of animal | AHD | |
| spur | n | pointed device on rider's heel for urging horse | AHD/W7 | |
| spurn | vb | to stumble | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Saxon: | spurnan | vb | to spurn, tread, strike with feet | |
| Old High German: | sporo | n | spur | ASD |
| spurnan | vb | to spurn, kick | W7 | |
| German: | Sporn | n.masc | spur | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | spyrna, spyrnad | vb | to spurn, kick, place the feet | LRC |
| Icelandic: | sperna | vb | to spurn, kick | ASD |
| spori | n | spur | ASD | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | asper, aspera, asperum | adj | rough, harsh | LRC |
| sperno, spernere | vb | to spurn | W7 | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | σπαίρω | vb | to gasp, quiver | LRC |
| σφαῖρα | n | sphere | LRC | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| str | = | strong (inflection) |
| vb | = | verb |
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) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
