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: 7. (s)ter-n- 'thorn, prickly stalk'
Semantic Field(s): Sharp, Branch
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | æppel-ðorn | n.masc | crab-apple (tree), lit. apple-thorn | ASD |
| slāh-þorn | n.masc | blackthorn, lit. sloe-thorn | ASD | |
| þorn | n.masc | thorn; (name for) TH-rune | GED | |
| þyrne | n.fem | thornbush | GED | |
| þyrnen | adj | thorny | GED | |
| Middle English: | thorn | n | thorn | W7 |
| English: | Appledore | prop.n | Bree surname in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC |
| blackthorn | n | sloe (tree): Prunus spinosa | W7 | |
| Pickthorn | prop.n | Bree surname in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| thorn | n | sharp woody plant spine | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | thorn | n.masc | thorn, spine, prickle | ASD |
| thornen | adj | re: thorns | ASD | |
| Old Saxon: | þorn | n.masc | thorn, spine, prickle | ASD/GED |
| Old Low German: | thorn | n.masc | thorn, spine, prickle | ASD |
| Old High German: | dorn | n.masc | thorn, spine, prickle | ASD/W7 |
| durnīn | adj | thorny | ASD | |
| þorn | n.str.masc | thorn | GED | |
| German: | Dorn | n.masc | thorn | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Icelandic: | stirðr | adj | stiff | GED |
| storð | n.fem | grass, stalk, stem | GED | |
| þorn | n | thorn | GED | |
| þyrnir | n.masc | thornbush | GED | |
| Icelandic: | þorn | n.masc | thorn: name of letter | ASD |
| þyrnir | n.fem | thorn | ASD | |
| Danish: | slaaentorn | n | blackthorn, lit. sloe-thorn | ASD |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | *þaurnus | n.str.masc | thorn, thorny plant | ASD/GED |
| Slavic | ||||
| Old Church Slavonic: | strъnь | n | stalk | GED |
| trъnъ | n | thorny plant | GED | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Hesychius' Greek Lexicon: | τέρνακα | n | stem of cardoon fruit | GED |
| Iranian | ||||
| New Persian: | tarrah | n | grass | GED |
| Khotanese: | tarra- | n | grass | GED |
| Indic | ||||
| Sanskrit: | tŕ̥ṇam | n | grass, straw | GED |
| tṛṇa | n | grass, blade of grass | W7 | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| prop | = | proper |
| str | = | strong (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) |
