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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.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers lacking Unicode^® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and Unicode 2) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 2. bha- 'to speak'

Semantic Field: to Speak, Talk

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
English
Old English:	antef(e)n	n	anthem, antiphon	ASD
	bannan/bonnan	vb	to summon	W7/ASD
	ben	n	prayer	W7
	boian	vb	to boast	RPN
	ge-bann	n	ban	CDC
Middle English:	abando(u)nen	vb	to abandon	W7
	affabil	adj	affable	AHD
	antem	n	anthem	W7
	ban	n	ban	W7
	bane	n	banns	W7
	banishen/banysen	vb	to banish	W7/CDC
	bannen	vb	to curse, summon	W7
	ben(e)	n	prayer	CDC
	bone/boon/boyn(e)	n	boon, request	MEV/W7/CDC
	confessen	vb	to confess	W7
	defamen	vb	to defame	W7
	diffamen	vb	to defame	W7
	enfaunt	n	infant	W7
	fable	n	fable	W7
	faerie/fairie	n	fay land/realm/people	W7
	faie/fay(e)	n	fay	W7
	fame	n	fame	W7
	famous	adj	famous	W7
	fate	n	fate	W7
	ineffable	adj	ineffable	W7
	infamous	adj	infamous	W7
	-phonie	n	-phony	W7
	preface	n	preface	W7
	profes	adj	having professed one's vows	W7
	professen	vb	to profess	W7
	prophete	n	prophet	W7
	symphonie	n	symphony	W7
English:	abandon	vb.trans	to give up, disavow rights/interest	AHD/W7
	affable	adj	friendly, pleasant, talkative	AHD/W7
	anthem	n	hymn sung responsively/antiphonally	AHD/W7
	antiphon	n	psalm/verse sung antiphonally	AHD/W7
	aphonia	n	loss of voice and all but whispered speech	AHD/W7
	apophasis	n	allusion by denying mention	AHD
	arriere-ban	n	king's proclamation calling vassals to arms	AHD/W7
	ban	n	order, decree, summons, proclamation	LRC
	ban	vb	to curse	AHD/W7
	banal	adj	trite, lacking freshness/originality	AHD/W7
	bandit	n	outlaw, brigand	AHD/W7
	banish	vb.trans	to require to leave country	AHD/W7
	banns	n.pl	public announcement (in church) of proposed marriage	AHD/W7
	boon	n	favor, benefit	AHD/W7
	cacophonous	adj	harsh-sounding	AHD/W7
	confess	vb	to admit, acknowledge	AHD/W7
	contraband	n	illegal/prohibited traffic	AHD/W7
	defame	vb.trans	to disgrace	AHD/W7
	euphemism	n	subsitute for offensive expression	AHD/W7
	euphony	n	sweet pleasing sound	AHD/W7
	fable	n	story, fictitious narrative	AHD/W7
	fabliau	n	short, coarse, cynical tale in verse	AHD/W7
	fabulous	adj	legendary, re: fable	AHD/W7
	fado	n	plaintive Portuguese folk song	AHD/W7
	Faerie	prop.n	elven land in Tolkien: The Hobbit	LRC
	fairy	n	mythical small magic being	AHD/W7
	fame	n	reputation, public esteem	AHD/W7
	famous	adj	widely known	AHD/W7
	fandango	n	lively Spanish/American dance	AHD/W7
	fantoccini	n	puppets moved by strings or other devices	AHD/W7
	fate	n	destiny, principle by which things happen	AHD/W7
	fay	adj	possessed, enchanted	LRC
	fay	n	elf, fairy	W7
	homophone	n	word sounding like another but different in spelling/meaning	TLL
	ineffable	adj	indescribable, incapable of verbal expression	AHD/W7
	infamous	adj	having worst kind of reputation	AHD/W7
	infant	n	child in earliest period of life	AHD/W7
	infantry	n	trained soldiers armed/equipped to fight on foot	AHD/W7
	-phasia	n.sfx	speech disorder	AHD/W7
	-phone	n.sfx	sound	AHD/W7
	phone	n	speech sound considered as mere physical event	AHD/W7
	phoneme	n	smallest unit of speech	AHD/W7
	phonetic	adj	re: sounds of speech	AHD/W7
	phon(o)-	pfx	sound; voice, speech	AHD
	-phony	n.sfx	sound	AHD/W7
	Polyphemus	prop.n	a certain cyclops (Greek mythology)	LRC
	preface	n	eucharistic prayer of thanksgiving	AHD/W7
	profess	vb	to take religious vows	AHD/W7
	prophet	n	divinely inspired speaker	AHD/W7
	symphony	n	consonance of sounds	AHD/W7
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	ban/bon	n	ban	CDC
	banna/bonna	vb	to summon	ASD
Old Dutch:	ban	n	ban	CDC
	bannen	vb	to ban, prohibit	CDC
Dutch:	bannen	vb	to banish, exile	CDC
Old Saxon:	ban	n	ban	CDC
Old High German:	ban(n)	n	ban	CDC
	bannan	vb	to command	W7
	pannan	vb	to summon	ASD
Middle High German:	ban(n)	n	ban	CDC
	bannen	vb	to ban, prohibit	ASD
German:	Bandit	n.masc	bandit	LRC
	Bann	n.masc	ban; spell	CDC
	bannen	vb	to ban, banish, avert	LRC
	Fabel	n.fem	fable	LRC
	Infanterie	n.fem	infantry	LRC
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	banna, bannað	vb	to ban, forbid, prohibit	LRC
	bon	n.fem	boon, petition	W7/ASD
Icelandic:	bann	n	ban, interdict, prohibition, excommunication	CDC
	banna	vb	to ban, forbid	CDC
	bon	n	prayer, petition	CDC
Danish:	ban(d)	n	ban, interdict, prohibition, excommunication	CDC
	bande	vb	to ban, swear	CDC
	bön	n	prayer, petition	CDC
Swedish:	bann	n	ban, interdict, prohibition, excommunication	CDC
	banna	vb	to ban, chide, reprove	CDC
	bön	n	prayer, petition	CDC
E-Germanic
Gothic:	bandwjan	vb	to signify	ASD
	*bannan	vb	to proclaim, announce	CDC
Italic
Latin:	*adfor, adfari/affari	vb.dep	to accost, address, speak to, say farewell	AHD/CLD
	affabilis	adj	affable	AHD
	confiteor, confiteri, confessus	vb.dep	to admit, confess	W7
	diffamo, diffamare	vb	to defame	W7
	effabilis	adj	capable of being expressed	W7
	effor, effari	vb	to speak out	W7
	fabula	n.fem	play, fable, conversation	W7
	fabulosus	adj	fabulous	W7
	facundus, facunda, facundum	adj	fluent, eloquent	LRC
	fama, famae	n.fem	talk, report	LRC
	famosus	adj	famous	W7
	fans, fantis	vb.pres.ptc	speaking	W7
	fas	n.neut	right	LRC
	Fata	prop.n.fem	goddess of fate	W7
	fateor, fateri	vb	to allow, admit, acknowledge	W7
	fatum, fati	n.neut	fate, divine utterance	LRC
	for, fari, fatus	vb.dep	to talk	LRC
	ineffabilis	vb.ptc	ineffable, impossible to erase	W7
	infamis	adj	ill-famed, dishonoured	W7
	infans, infantis	adj/n.masc	incapable of speech; infant	LRC
	Polyphemus	n.masc	Polyphemus	W7
	praefatio, praefationis	n.fem	foreword	W7
	praefor, praefari, praefatus	vb	to say beforehand	W7
	profiteor, profiteri, professus	vb	to profess, confess	W7
	propheta	n.fem	prophet	W7
	symphonia	n.fem	symphony	W7
Late Latin:	antiphona	n.masc	anthem, antiphon	W7
	apophasis	n	apophasis	AHD
	euphonia	n.fem	euphony	W7
	professus	vb.ptc	professed, taught	W7
Middle Latin:	bannalis	adj	banal	CDC
	ban(nd)ire	vb	to ban, banish, proclaim	CDC
	bannum/bandum	n	ban, edict, banishment	CDC
Medieval Latin:	bannus	n.masc	ban	W7
	contrabannum	n.neut	contraband, against the ban	W7
	defamo, defamare	vb	to defame	W7
	prephatia	n.fem	foreword	W7
New Latin:	aphonia	n.fem	aphonia, impossibility to make a sound	W7
	-phasia	sfx	of speech	W7
	phoneticus	adj	phonetic	W7
Portuguese:	bandir	vb	to banish	CDC
	bando	n	ban, edict, banishment	CDC
	fado	n.masc	sad/plaintive folk song	W7
	falar	vb	to speak	TLL
Old Spanish:	bandir	vb	to banish	CDC
Spanish:	bando	n.masc	ban, edict, banishment	CDC
	hablar	vb	to speak	TLL
Old French:	abandoner/abanduner	vb	to abandon	CDC
	affable	adj	affable	AHD
	ariere-ban	n	arriere-ban	AHD
	ban	n	ban, edict, banishment	CDC
	banal	adj	shared by tenants of feudal jurisdiction	AHD
	banir	vb	to ban, make known	GED
	ban(n)ir	vb	to banish	CDC
	fable	n.fem	fable	W7
	fabliau	n.masc	fable, popular medieval tale	W7
	faerie	n.fem	fay-land, magical power	W7
	fa(i)e	n.fem	fay	OED
	fame	n.fem	report, fame	W7
	herban	n	military service ban (summons)	AHD
	-phonie	sfx	sound	W7
	profes	adj	having professed one's vows	W7
	prophete	n.masc	prophet	W7
	symphonie	n.fem	symphony	W7
Middle French:	abandon	n.masc	surrender, abandon	W7
	affable	adj	affable	W7
	ban	n.masc	feudal service	W7
	banal	adj	banal, common; re: compulsory feudal service	W7
	bandon	n	power, control	AHD/W7
	banisse	vb.ptc	banished	W7
	confesser	vb	to confess	W7
	defamer	vb	to defame	W7
	diffamer	vb	to defame	W7
	enfant	n.masc	child	W7
	fable	n.fem	fable, tale with moral content	W7
	fameux	adj	famous	W7
	fe(i)e	n.fem	fay	W7
	ineffable	adj	ineffable, impossible to tell	W7
	infanterie	n.fem	infantry	W7
	preface	n.fem	foreword	W7
French:	arrière-ban	n	arriere-ban	W7
	banal	adj	banal, common, vulgar	W7
	bannir	vb	to banish	CDC
	euphonie	n.fem	euphony	W7
	fabliau	n.masc	fabliau, medieval tale or song	W7
	fée	n.fem	fay	OED
	phonème	n.masc	speech sound, phoneme	W7
Old Occitan:	ban	n	ban, edict, banishment	CDC
	banal	adj	banal	CDC
Provençal:	bandon	n	ban	CDC
Old Italian:	infante	n.masc	boy, foot soldier	W7
	infanteria	n.fem	infantry	W7
Italian:	abandonnare	vb	to abandon	CDC
	bandire	vb	to ban, banish, proclaim, make known	GED/CDC
	bandito	n.masc	bandit	W7
	bando	n	ban, edict, banishment	CDC
	contrabbando	n.masc	contraband	W7
	fante	n.masc	infantryman, jack	W7/CID
	fantòccio	n.masc	doll, puppet	W7/CID
Slavic
Russian Church Slavic:	bajati	vb	to tell, to heal	RPN
Albanian
Albanian:	fat	n.masc	fate	LRC
Hellenic
Greek:	antiphonos	adj	responsive, sounding in answer	W7
	apóphasis	n.fem	denial, negation, apophasis	AHD/LS
	aphonia	n.fem	aphonia	W7
	aphonos	adj	voiceless	W7
	euphemismos	n.masc	figure of speech: improving the sound of	W7
	euphemos	adj	auspicious, sounding good	W7
	euphonia	n.fem	euphony, harmony	W7
	euphonos	adj	sweet-voiced, musical	W7
	kakophonos	adj	cacophonous	W7
	Polyphemos	n.masc	Polyphemus	W7
	prophêteía	n.fem	prophecy	LRC
	prophêteúô	vb	to prophesy	LRC
	prophêtês	n.masc	prophet	LRC
	prophetes	n.masc	prophet, seer	W7
	symphonia	n.fem	symphony	W7
	symphonos	adj	concordant in sound	W7
	phanai	vb	to speak	W7
	-phasia	afx	speech	W7
	phasis	n.fem	utterance	W7
	phêmê	n	ominous voice, oracle	RPN
	pheme	n.fem	speech	W7
	phêmi	vb	to say	LRC
	phonein	vb	to sound	W7
	phone	n.fem	voice	W7
	phonema, phonemat-	n.neut	speech sound, utterance	W7
	phonetikos	adj	of sounds, of voice	W7
	-phonia	sfx	act of sounding	W7
	-phonos	sfx	sounding	W7
Armenian
Classical Armenian:	ban	n	speech, word	LRC

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev.		Meaning
adj	=	adjective
afx	=	affix
dep	=	deponent
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
pfx	=	prefix
pl	=	plural (number)
pres	=	present (tense)
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
sfx	=	suffix
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)
CDC	=	W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
CID	=	Cassell's Italian Dictionary (1958)
CLD	=	Cassell's Latin Dictionary (1959, rev. 1968)
GED	=	Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
MEV	=	J.R.R. Tolkien: A Middle English Vocabulary (1922)
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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