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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 with Unicode^® support, but fonts for only the Unicode 2.0 character set (including combining diacritics). Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and ISO-8859-1) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: 1. (s)kel- 'to cut, halve'

Semantic Field: to Cut

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language	Reflex(es)	PoS/Gram.	Gloss	Source(s)
Celtic
Middle Irish:	sce(i)llec	n	rock	GED
	scoilt	vb	to split	GED
Welsh:	caill	n	testicle	GED
	hollt	vb	to split	GED
English
Old English:	culter/cultur	n.masc	coulter, dagger	W7/ASD
	hælftre	n.fem	halter	GED
	healf	n.fem	half, side, part	GED
	helma	n.masc	helm, rudder	W7
	hielfe	n	helve	W7
	scealla	n	testicle	GED
	scealu	n.fem	shell, hull, husk	GED
	sceld/scild/scield/scyld	n.masc	shield	GED/ASD
	scielfe	n.wk.fem	shelf	GED
	sciell	n.fem	shell, mussel	GED
	scilfe/scylfe	n.fem	shelf, ledge	W7
	scolu/scōl	n.fem	shoal, school, multitude	W7/ASD
	scylian	vb	to separate	W7
	scyll	n.fem	shell, mussel	GED
	slīfan	vb.str	to slive, splice	IEW/ASD
	slītan, slāt, sliton, sliten	vb.str.I	to slit, tear	LRC
Middle English:	colter/culter	n	coulter	W7/AHD
	half	n	half	W7
	halter	n	halter	W7
	halven	vb	to halve	W7
	helme	n	helm	W7
	helve	n	haft, handle of tool/weapon	W7
	scale	n	scale	W7
	scall	n	scall	W7
	scalp	n	scalp	W7
	schulle	n	flatfish, flounder	MED
	scole	n	school	W7
	sculpture	n	sculpture	W7
	shale	n	shale	W7
	sheld	n	shield	W7
	sheldrake	n	sheldrake	W7
	shelf	n	shelf	W7
	shell	n	shell	W7
	*shole	n	shoal, multitude	W7
	skil	n	skill	W7
	slippe	n	slip	W7
	slitten	vb	to slit	W7
	sliven	vb	to slive, slice off	W7
	slivere	n	sliver	W7
English:	co(u)lter	n	turf cutter on plow	AHD/W7
	cultrate	adj	knife-shaped, having sharp edge/point	AHD/W7
	cutlass	n	short curving sword once used by sailors	AHD/W7
	half	n	either of 2 equal parts resulting from division	AHD/W7
	Halfelven	prop.n	Elrond surname in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Halfling	prop.n	hobbit epithet in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	Halfred	prop.n	hobbit name in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings	LRC
	halter	n	rope/strap for tying/leading animal	AHD/W7
	halve	vb.trans	to divide in 2 equal parts	AHD/W7
	helm	n	wheel/lever controlling ship's rudder	AHD/W7
	helve	n	haft, handle of tool/weapon	AHD/W7
	Oakenshield	prop.n	epithet for Thorin in Tolkien: The Hobbit	LRC
	scagliola	n	imitation marble made from finely ground gypsum/glue	AHD/W7
	scale	n	thin flat rigid plate, part of body covering (esp. of fish/reptile)	AHD/W7
	scale	n	balance (pan/tray) used for weighing	AHD/W7
	scalene	adj	having unequal sides	AHD/W7
	scall	n	scurf/scabby scalp disorder	AHD/W7
	scalp	n	part of head usu. covered by hair	AHD/W7
	scalpel	n	small thin-bladed knife used for surgery	AHD/W7
	school	n	shoal, many fish/aquatic animals of same kind swimming together	AHD/W7
	sculpture	n	act/process of carving/cutting hard material into artwork	AHD/W7
	shale	n	fissile rock formed by compaction of clay/mud/silt	AHD/W7
	sheldrake	n	Old World duck	AHD/W7
	shelf	n	flat usu. long/narrow space for holding objects	AHD/W7
	shell	n	rigid carapace of mollusk/turtle/etc.	AHD/W7
	shelter	n	cover, defense, protection	AHD
	shelve	vb	to slope, incline, be steep/precipitous	IEW/W7
	shield	n	broad rigid armor piece carried via hand/arm	AHD/W7
	shoal	n	crowd, school, large group (e.g. of fish)	AHD/W7
	skill	n	cause, reason; intellectual faculty	AHD/W7
	skoal	n	health, toast	AHD/W7
	slip	n	scion, small plant cutting	W7
	slit, slit	vb.str	to cut, slash, sever	W7
	slive	vb	to sliver	IEW
	sliver	n	splinter, long slender piece cut/torn off	W7
	sliver	vb	to splinter, cut/split into slivers	W7
W-Germanic
Old Frisian:	half	adj	half	ASD
	halve	n	side, direction	GED
	skall	n.masc	testicle	GED
	skeld	n	shield	GED
	slīta	vb	to slit, tear, break	ASD
Middle Dutch:	schelpe	n	shell	W7
	schillede	adj	parti-colored	W7
	schōle	n	school	W7/AHD
Dutch:	behalve	prep	except	TLL
	schaal	n	eggshell; measurement scale	TLL
	schilder	n	painter	LRC
	schilderen	vb	to paint	LRC
	schilderij	n	picture	TLL
	schol	n	flatfish, flounder; scale: plate	TLL
Old Saxon:	halƀa	n	side, direction	GED
	half	adj	half	GED
	scāla	n.fem	shell	GED
	skala	n	drinking vessel	ASD
	skild	n	shield	GED
	skola	n	school, band, troop	ASD
	slītan	vb	to slit, split, tear	ASD
Middle Low German:	schelle	n	shell, scale	GED
	schōle	n	school	AHD
Old High German:	halb	adj	half	GED
	halb(a)	n.fem	side, direction	GED/ASD
	halftra	n	halter	W7
	helmo	n	tiller	W7
	scala	n.fem	shell, hull	GED
	scelifa	n.wk.fem	shell, peel	GED
	skilt	n.masc	shield	GED
	skolla	n	clod, piece	KDW
	slīzan	vb	to slit, tear apart	W7
Middle High German:	slitzen	vb	to slit	W7
German:	halbe	n	half, side	ASD
	halfter	n	halter	ASD
	Schale	n.fem	shell, hull	LRC
	Schild	n.masc	shield, buckler	LRC
	Schild	n.neut	sign, badge, label	LRC
	schildern	vb	to draw, sketch, depict, portray	LRC
	Schlips	n.masc	cravat, necktie	TLL
	Scholle	n.fem	flatfish, flounder; sod, clod; flake, scale: plate	TLL
N-Germanic
Old Norse:	Eikinskjaldi	prop.n	Voluspa dwarf, lit. Oaken-shield	TPE
	hálfr	adj	half	LRC
	skalli	n	bald head	W7
	skāl	n	bowl	W7
	skālpr	n	sheath	W7
	skel	n	shell	W7
	skil	n	knowledge, distinction	W7
	skiljad/skiljað	vb	to divide, separate; perceive, understand	LRC
	skjǫldr	n.masc	shield	LRC
Old Icelandic:	halfa	n	side, direction	GED
	halfr	adj	half	GED
	Hlið-skjálf	n.fem	Odin's seat	ASD
	skel	n	shell, mussel	GED
	skjǫldr	n	shield	GED
Icelandic:	hālfa	n	half, side	ASD
	hālfr	adj	half	ASD
	skál	n	scale, bowl (of a balance)	ASD
	skjöldr	n	shield	ASD
	slíta	vb	to slit, tear, break	ASD
Danish:	skaal	n	cup	W7
	skæl	n	scale: plate	TLL
	slips	n	cravat, necktie	TLL
Swedish:	skal	n	shell	TLL
	skolla	n	flatfish, flounder; scale: plate	SAO
	sköld	n	shield	TLL
E-Germanic
Gothic:	halba	n	half, side	ASD
	*halbs	adj	half	GED
	*skalja	n.fem	tile	GED
	*skildus	n.masc	shield	GED
Italic
Latin:	cultellus	n.masc	knife	W7
	culter, cultris	n.masc	knife, plowshare, coulter	W7
	cultratus	adj	knife-shaped	W7
	scalpellum	n.neut	little knife	W7
	scalpellus	n.masc	little knife	W7
	scalper	n.masc	chisel, knife	W7
	scalpō, scalpere	vb	to cut, carve	GED
	scalprum	n.neut	chisel, knife	W7
	sculpō, sculpere	vb	to carve, sculpt	LS
	sculptura	n.fem	sculpture	W7
	sculptus	vb.ptc	carved, sculpted	W7
	silex	n.masc	flint, pebble	GED
Late Latin:	scalenus	adj	uneven, having (three) unequal sides	W7
Old French:	coltre	n	coulter	W7
Middle French:	coutel	n.masc	knife	W7
	coutelas	n.masc	cutlass	W7
French:	coutre	n	coulter	ASD
Italian:	coltro	n	coulter	ASD
	scagliola	n.fem	plaster of Paris	W7
Baltic
Lithuanian:	skalà	n	wood chip	GED
	skélti	vb	to split	GED
	skìltis	n	slice	GED
Latvian:	škelt	vb	to split	GED
Slavic
Old Church Slavonic:	skolьka	n	mussel	GED
Albanian
Albanian:	hálë	n	fish scale	GED
Hellenic
Greek:	κωλύω	vb	to hinder, prevent	LRC
	skalēnos	adj	uneven	W7
	σκάλλω	vb	to hoe, stir up	GED
	skolios	adj	crooked	W7
Indic
Sanskrit:	kalā́	n	portion, small part	GED

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

Abbrev.		Meaning
I	=	class 1
adj	=	adjective
fem	=	feminine (gender)
masc	=	masculine (gender)
n	=	noun
neut	=	neuter (gender)
prep	=	preposition
prop	=	proper
ptc	=	participle
str	=	strong (inflection)
trans	=	transitive
vb	=	verb
wk	=	weak (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)
IEW	=	Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959)
KDW	=	Gerhard Köbler: Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 4th ed. (1993)
LRC	=	Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
LS	=	Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon, 7th-9th ed's (1882-1940), rev.
MED	=	Robert E. Lewis et al., eds. Middle English Dictionary (1954-1999, 2001)
SAO	=	Swedish Academy: Svenska Akademiens Ordbok (2011)
TLL	=	Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
TPE	=	Lee M. Hollander: The Poetic Edda (1962)
W7	=	Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)

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