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: 6. u̯er- 'to speak, talk formally'
Semantic Field(s): to Speak, Talk
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | word | n.neut | word, speech | LRC |
| Middle English: | adverbe | n | adverb | AHD |
| proverbe | n | proverb | W7 | |
| rethor | n | rhetor | W7 | |
| verbe | n | verb | W7 | |
| word | n | word | W7 | |
| English: | adverb | n | word modifying verb/adjective/other adverb | AHD/W7 |
| irony | n | pretense of ignorance to make false conceptions conspicuous | AHD/W7 | |
| proverb | n | adage, brief popular maxim/epigram | AHD/W7 | |
| rheme | n | expression of single idea/notion | AHD/W2I | |
| rhetor | n | rhetorician | AHD/W7 | |
| rhetoric | n | art of speaking/writing effectively | W7 | |
| rhetorical | adj | re: rhetoric | W7 | |
| rhetorician | n | orator, master/teacher of rhetoric | W7 | |
| verb | n | word expressing action/occurrence/mode of being | AHD/W7 | |
| verve | n | special ability/talent | AHD/W7 | |
| word | n | something that is said | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | word | n.neut | word | ASD |
| Dutch: | woord | n | word | LRC |
| Old Saxon: | word | n.neut | word | ASD |
| Old High German: | wort | n.neut | word | ASD/W7 |
| German: | Wort | n.neut | word | LRC |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Icelandic: | orð | n.neut | word | ASD |
| Danish: | ord | n | word | LRC |
| Swedish: | ord | n | word | LRC |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | waúrd | n.str.neut | word | LRC |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | adverbium | n.neut | adverb | W7 |
| ironia | n.fem | irony | W7 | |
| proverbium | n.neut | proverb | W7 | |
| rhetorica, rhetoricae | n.fem | rhetoric | LRC | |
| verbum, verbi | n.neut | word | LRC | |
| Old French: | adverbe | n | adverb | AHD |
| Middle French: | adverbe | n.masc | adverb | W7 |
| proverbe | n.masc | proverb | W7 | |
| verbe | n.masc | speech | W7 | |
| French: | verve | n.fem | verve, eloquence, energy in public speaking | W7 |
| Baltic | ||||
| Lithuanian: | var̃das | n.masc | name | LRC |
| Latvian: | apvārdot, apvārdoju, apvārdoju | vb | to charm | LRC |
| vārds | n.masc | word, name | LRC | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Homeric Greek: | εἴρω | vb | to say, speak | LRC |
| ῥητήρ | n | rhetor, speaker | LRC | |
| Greek: | εἰρέω | vb | to say, speak | LRC |
| eirōn | n.masc | dissembler | W7 | |
| eirōnia | n.fem | irony | W7 | |
| ῥῆμα | n.neut | rheme, saying, that which is said/spoken | LS | |
| ῥητορική | n.fem | rhetoric | LRC | |
| ῥητορικῶς | adv | like rhetoricians | LRC | |
| rhētōr | n.masc | rhetor | W7 | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| adv | = | adverb(ial) |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| 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 |
| LS | = | Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev. |
| W2I | = | Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. (1959) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |