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)p(h)ereg-, (s)p(h)erəg-, (s)p(h)rēg-, nasalized spreng- 'to rush, hurry; strew, sprinkle, disperse'
Semantic Field(s): to Hurry, Hasten, to Strew, Spread Out
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | besprecan | vb.str.V | to tell, plead, pretend, speak to/about | AHD/ASD | 
| spearca | n.masc | spark | ASD/W7 | |
| spearc(i)an | vb | to spark, sparkle | ASD/IEW | |
| specan, spæc, spǣcon, specen | vb.str.V | to speak, say | ASD/W7 | |
| sp(r)ǣc, sprēc | n.fem | speech | ASD/W7 | |
| sprecan, spræc, sprǣcon, sprecen | vb.str.V | to speak, say | LRC | |
| Middle English: | bispeken | vb | to bespeak, speak out | AHD | 
| dysparsen | vb | to disperse | W7 | |
| frakne | n | freckle | W7 | |
| frekel | n | freckle | W7 | |
| sparke | n | spark | W7 | |
| sparken | vb | to spark | W7 | |
| sparklen | vb.freq | to sparkle | W7 | |
| speche | n | speech | W7 | |
| speken | vb | to speak | W7 | |
| sprenklen | vb | to sprinkle | W7 | |
| sprinclen | vb | to sprinkle | W7 | |
| English: | asparagus | n | Old World perennial plant with edible shoots | W7 | 
| asperse | vb.trans | to sprinkle (with holy water) | AHD/W7 | |
| bespeak, bespoke, bespoken | vb.str.trans | to hire, engage, claim beforehand | AHD/W7 | |
| disperse | vb | to cause to scatter in different directions | AHD/W7 | |
| freak | vb.trans | to streak/stripe (with color) | IEW/W7 | |
| freckle | n | small brownish spot on skin | AHD/W7 | |
| intersperse | vb.trans | to insert among other things | AHD/W7 | |
| sparge | vb.trans | to sprinkle, bespatter | AHD/W7 | |
| spark | n | flash, hot glowing particle | IEW/W7 | |
| spark | vb | to emit spark | W7 | |
| sparkle | vb | to emit sparks | IEW | |
| sparse | adj | few, scattered | AHD/W7 | |
| speak, spoke, spake, spoken | vb.str | to talk, utter/articulate words/sounds with ordinary voice | AHD/W7 | |
| speech | n | vocal expression/communication of thoughts in words | AHD/W7 | |
| sprag | n | pointed bar/stake on vehicle to prevent rolling when halted | AHD/W7 | |
| sprinkle | vb | to scatter in drops/particles | AHD/W7 | |
| spry | adj | brisk, vigorously active | AHD/W7 | |
| spurry | n | small white-flowered European plant | AHD/W7 | |
| British English: | bespoke | adj/vb.ptc | custom-made | W7 | 
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | spreka | vb | to speak, say | ASD | 
| sprēke | n | speech | ASD | |
| Dutch: | asperge | n | asparagus | TLL | 
| sproach | n | speech | LRC | |
| spurrie | n | spurry | W7 | |
| Old Saxon: | sprāka | n | speech | ASD | 
| sprekan | vb | to speak, say | ASD | |
| Old High German: | sprāhha | n | speech, language | ASD | 
| sprehhan | vb | to speak | W7 | |
| Middle High German: | spreckel | n | spot | W7 | 
| sprenkel | n | spot | W7 | |
| German: | Spargel | n | asparagus | TLL | 
| Sprache | n.fem | speech | LRC | |
| sprechen | vb | to speak | LRC | |
| Sprenkel | n.masc | spot, speckle | LRC | |
| sprenkeln | vb | to spot, speckle, dapple; sprinkle | LRC | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | freknōttr | adj | freckled | W7 | 
| Danish: | asparges | n | asparagus | TLL | 
| sprog | n | speech | LRC | |
| Swedish: | sparris | n | asparagus | TLL | 
| spragge | n | branch | W7 | |
| sprygg | adj | spry | W7 | |
| språk | n | speech | LRC | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | asparagus | n | asparagus | LRC | 
| aspergo, aspergere | vb | to sprinkle, splatter | W7 | |
| aspersus | vb.ptc | sprinkled, splattered | W7 | |
| dispergo, dispergere | vb | to scatter | W7 | |
| dispersus | vb.ptc | scattered | W7 | |
| interspersus | vb.ptc | interspersed | W7 | |
| spargō, spargere, sparsī, sparsum | vb | to strew, sprinkle | LRC | |
| spargo, spargere | vb | to scatter | W7 | |
| sparsus | vb.ptc | scattered | W7 | |
| Medieval Latin: | spergula | n.fem | spurry | W7 | 
| Middle French: | disperser | vb | to disperse | W7 | 
| espargier | vb | to sparge | W7 | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Homeric Greek: | σφᾰρᾰγέομαι | vb | to hiss, crackle, sputter | LS | 
| Greek: | ἀ-σφάρᾰγος | n.fem | asparagus | LS | 
| σφᾰρᾰγίζω | vb | to stir up with noise/bustle | LS | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| V | = | class 5 | 
| adj | = | adjective | 
| fem | = | feminine (gender) | 
| freq | = | frequentative (aspect) | 
| masc | = | masculine (gender) | 
| n | = | noun | 
| ptc | = | participle | 
| str | = | strong (inflection) | 
| trans | = | transitive | 
| 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) | 
| 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. | 
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) | 
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |