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1. Word Family - Veda

   December theme: Religion 📿

   Teaser

   guide, vision, envy, prudent, Hades, idyllic, Rigveda, idea, history, wise

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *weyd- to see

     • Indo-Iranian *wayd- to know, to find

       • Indo-Aryan

         • Sanskrit 𑀯𑀺𑀤𑁆 vid know, find
       • Iranian *waid-

         • Avestan vid know, understand
         • Avestan vaēd find
         • Iranian *ni-waid invitation

           • Avestan niuuaēδaiiemi to invite a …

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2. Word Family - Geyser

   December theme: Religion 📿

   Introduction

   This root has been reconstructed as *ǵʰew-, *ǵʰewH-, *gewH, *gʷewH, *gʷewh₂, with different combinations of the definitions I've listed, but:

   • While it's an unusual amount of variation in the phonological reconstruction, they're all still awfully similar.
   • Looking at any two of "pour", "cry", "libate", "invoke" they …

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3. Word Family - Bid

   December theme: Religion 📿

   Introduction

   *bʰewdʰ- vs. *gʷʰedʰ-: two families that end up being super confusing in Germanic languages, since *bʰ and *gʷʰ merge at the beginning of a word. In English, they end up being homophones with complementary/opposite meanings: "offer" vs. "ask for".

   I had to do these two …

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4. Word Family - Diurnal

   December theme: Religion 📿

   Introduction

   We start religion words with *dyḗwos ph₂tḗr, Old Father Shining-Sky himself.

   Interestingly English "day" is not from this root, despite similarity to many IE words for day, e.g. Latin diēs, etc. Germanic d corresponds to Latin f (PIE dʰ); Latin d corresponds to Germanic t …

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5. Word Family - Nectar

   November theme: Mes de Muertos 💀

   Teaser

   innocent, noxious, necromancer, nectar

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- to perish, to disappear

     • Proto-Indo-European *néḱyeti perishes, disappears imperfective

       • Indo-Iranian *náĉyati

         • Indo-Aryan

           • Dardic

             • Kashmiri نَشُن naśun to be destroyed, to disappear, to wear away
           • Sanskrit 𑀦𑀰𑁆𑀬𑀢𑀺 naśyati to be lost, to perish, to …

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6. Word Family - Death

   November theme: Mes de Muertos 💀

   Introduction

   A root meaning "to run, to depart" can be reconstructed from Hellenic and Indo-Iranian. But in Northwest branches, Balto-Slavic, Celtic, Germanic, and possibly Italic, there is a phonologically identical root meaning "to die". So it's probably a euphemism coined in a Late Northwest Indo-European …

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7. Word Family - Quick

   November theme: Mes de Muertos 💀

   Teaser

   quick, biology, vitamin, zoology, hygiene

   Full Text

   • Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- to live

     • Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti to be alive

       • Balto-Slavic

         • East Baltic

           • Lithuanian gyventi to live, to inhabit
         • Slavic *žiti

           • East Slavic

             • Russian жить žitʹ to live, to reside
           • South Slavic

             • Old Church Slavonic жити žiti to …

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8. Word Family - Mummy

   October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

   Teaser

   mu, mummy

   Full Text

   • Proto-Afro-Asiatic *maʾ-

     • Berber

       • Tashelhit aman water
       • Tuareg ⵎⵏ aman water
     • Chadic

       • West Chadic

         • Tangale am water
     • Egyptian 𓈖 mw water, rain, sea, lake

       • Demotic Egyptian mw

         • Coptic ⲙⲟⲟⲩ moou water
         • Egyptian Arabic امبو ʾumbū water, drink childish
         • Ancient Greek μῦ …

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9. Word Family - Lily

   October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

   Introduction

   tulips and lilies from Egyptian

   Teaser

   Full Text

   • Afro-Asiatic *ḥrr

     • Egyptian 𓁷:𓂋-𓂋:𓏏-𓆰 ḥrrt flower, blossom

       • Egyptian 𓁹-𓁷:𓂋-𓂋:𓏏-𓆰 jrj-ḥrrt to blossom lit. "make-flower" or "do-flower"
       • Demotic Egyptian ḥrrj flower

         • Coptic ϩⲣⲏⲣⲉ hrēre flower
         • Fayyumic Coptic ϩⲗⲏⲣⲓ hlēri flower

           • Classical Greek λείριον …

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10. Word Family - Mort

    October theme: Mes de Muertos 💀

    Introduction

    I'm not seriously proposing that words for "death" all across the Northern Hemisphere are related, but I'm not entirely not proposing that, or at least that there may be an ancient wander-word (possibly driven by taboo replacement?) that made its way across much Eurasia …

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11. Word Family - Elephant

    October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

    Teaser

    ivory, elephant

    Full Text

    • Proto-Afro-Asiatic *leb-

      • Chadic

        • West Chadic

          • Tangale labata elephant
      • Egyptian 𓍋𓃀𓅱 ābu elephant, ivory usually with determiner suffix 𓃰 or 𓌟 to distinguish between "elephant" and "ivory"

        • Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ yēb elephant

          • Latin ebur ivory

            • French ivoire ivory

              • English ivory
            • Italian avorio …

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12. Word Family - Cane

    October theme: Ancient Borrowings 𒅴

    Introduction

    Sumerians and reeds were very influential! (Cuneiform was written with a sharpened reed stylus and was the first writing system, possibly tied with Egyptian hieroglyphs.)

    I love that "canon" and "cannon" are related.

    Teaser

    cane, cannon, channel, canister, canon

    Full Text

    • Sumerian 𒄀 gi …

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13. Word Family - Tepid

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Teaser

    Tbilisi, tepid

    Full Text

    • ? Unknown original source ^[1]

      • Proto-Afro-Asiatic *dp- heat, fire, steam ^[1]

        • Chadic

          • Hausa dafa to cook
        • Cushitic *daf- steam, sweat

          • Gedeo daffa sweat
          • Oromo damfa steam

            • Oromo damfisa boil, heat in water
        • Semitic *d-p-ʔ- heat, be warm

          • Central Semitic

            • Arabic دفئ dāfiʾ warm …

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14. Word Family - Aidan

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Teaser

    ether, Aidan, edifice, anneal, estivation

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂eydʰ- ignite, fire

      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂éydʰ-eti burning, igniting primary verb

        • Indo-Iranian *Háydʰati

          • Indo-Aryan

            • Sanskrit 𑀏𑀥𑀢𑁂 édhate to spread, to grow, to increase, to prosper
        • Hellenic

          • Classical Greek αἴθω aíthō To kindle, to light, to burn

            • Classical Greek αἴθων a …

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15. Word Family - Brew

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Teaser

    brew, broil, breed, ferment, burn, bourbon, broth, bread

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- to boil, to brew

      • Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-ti primary verb

        • Albanian mbruaj to knead
        • Celtic

          • Old Irish bruithid boils, seethes, cooks

            • Irish bruith to boil, to bake, to burn
        • Germanic *brewwanã to brew

          • North Germanic

            • Old …

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16. Word Family - Fire

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Introduction

    *péh₂wr̥ means "fire" as an inanimate substance (grammatically neuter), as opposed to *h₁n̥gʷnis, which is animate, elemental fire (grammatically animate in earlier PIE, masculine in later PIE).

    *péh₂wr̥ is though to contain the (é)-wr̥ suffix that derives nouns from roots, though there are no …

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17. Word Family - Ignite

    September theme: Fire 🔥

    Introduction

    Proto-Indo-European had (at least) two words *h₁n̥gʷnis: "fire" (grammatically animate) and *péh₂wr̥ (grammatically inanimate).

    Effectively all descendants of *h₁engʷ- have lost the labialization, so distinguishing it from reconstructed **h₁eng- is not immediately obivous. It mostly survives only in languages that merge *g and *gʷ (Balto-Slavic …

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18. Word Family - Aqua

    August theme: Elements So Slow 🌎🌊

    Teaser

    Avon, Punjab, island, Scandinavia, aquarium, sewer, sober

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- water, body of water

      • Anatolian *h₂epo river

        • Hittite *hapa river

          • Hittite 𒄩𒉺𒀀 ḫa-pa-a toward the river
      • Balto-Slavic

        • Lithuanian ùpė river
      • Celtic *abonā river

        • Brythonic *aβon

          • Cumbric *avon

            • Cumbric *Ir Avon Fresh-Water or Green-River …

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19. Word Family - Mare

    August theme: Horses 🐎

    Introduction

    This one is really cool and just might go back all the way to the original domestication of horses in Central Asia. Maybe—just maybe—the Thai word for the knight piece in chess and the Welsh word for the knight piece in chess might be …

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20. Word Family - Water

    August theme: Earth and Water 🌎🌊

    Introduction

    *wed-: "water" and some potentially related other roots

    I love how Indo-European *udrós, "aquatic", became the word for "otter" in 4 out of the 5 branches where it is attested, except for Greek where it became "sea serpent".

    Teaser

    wash, otter, hydra, vodka, whiskey …

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21. Word Family - Earth

    August theme: Earth and Water 🌎🌊

    Introduction

    Semtic *ʾartɬʼ-: "earth" and Proto-Indo-European *h₁erTeH: "earth". I connect these for several reasons (beyond the obvious). First, there are several indicators that *h₁ was pronounced as a glottal stop, including a number of other words that are apparent correspondences between PIE *h₁ and Semitic …

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22. Word Family - Human

    August theme: Earth and Water 🌎🌊

    Teaser

    chthonic, algorithm, humus, Demeter, Gaea, George, geometry, chameleon, camomile, humility, Daoine Sidhe, human

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰm̥ earth singular

      • Anatolian

        • Hittite 𒋼𒂊𒃷 te-e-kán / tēkan earth
      • Proto-Indo-European *dʰǵʰōm the earth, the lands collective
      • Albanian dhe earth
      • Anatolian

        • Hittite *tagān

          • Hittite ta-ga-an-zi-pa-aš earth-goddess
      • Balto-Slavic *źemē earth …

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23. Word Family - Create

    Introduction

    *ḱer(h₁)-: "to grow, to make grow, to increase" is mostly in the western IE languages; *ḱer-: "to braid, to weave, rope" is mostly in the east, with only Greek and Armenian having both forms. I would suspect the western *ḱerh₁-: "to make grow" form is a derived root …

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24. Word Family - Edge

    Teaser

    oxygen, acid, eager, vinegar, tear, lachrymose, edge, axe, hammer, hear, acoustic, coin, cuneiform, cone

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- sharp

      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂oḱós sharp

        • Hellenic

          • Classical Greek ὀξύς oxús sharp, pointed, clever, swift

            • French oxygène oxygen Greek technical formation "sharp-forming", for oxygen's role in forming acids

              • English oxygen
              • Translingual O
            • Classical …

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25. Word Family - Be

    Teaser

    be, physician, kit and (ca)boodle, hobbit, prove, tribe,

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- to become, grow, appear

      • Proto-Indo-European *bʰúH-t

        • Albanian bëhem become, get
        • Balto-Slavic *būtei to be

          • Lithuanian būti to be
          • Slavic *byti to be

            • East Slavic

              • Russian быть bytʹ to be
            • South Slavic

              • Serbo-Croatian би̏ти bȉti to …

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26. Word Family - Fiona

    Introduction

    Celtic *windos: "white, bright", which may be a zero-grade nasal infix of *weyd-: "to see", and thus "visible, bright".

    Teaser

    Fiona, Jennifer, Guinevere, penguin, Vienna, wiener

    Full Text

    • Celtic *windos white

      • Brythonic *gwɨnn white

        • Welsh gwyn white, fair, shining, blessed

          • Welsh Gwendolen personal name: White-Ring (of hair)

            • English Gwendolen …

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27. Word Family - Gay

    June theme: Pride In Words 🏳️‍🌈

    Teaser

    go, gay, heritage, gangway

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- to go, to walk

      • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰh₁ye-ti ye- present verb

        • Germanic *gāną to go, to walk

          • East Germanic

            • Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 gaggan to go
            • Crimean Gothic geen to go
          • North Germanic

            • Old Norse gá

              • Danish gå to go …

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28. Word Family - Avatar

    June theme: Pride In Words 🏳️‍🌈

    Teaser

    avatar, trans-, tradition, nectar, thorough

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- to cross over, pass through, overcome

      • Proto-Indo-European *térh₂eti primary verb form

        • Indo-Iranian *tárHati

          • Indo-Aryan *tárHati

            • Sanskrit तरति tarati pass over, float, swim

              • Sauraseni *tiradi

                • Madhya

                  • Hindi तैरना tairnā to float
          • Iranian *tárHatī

            • Avestan titarat …

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29. Word Family - Queer

    June theme: Pride In Words 🏳️‍🌈

    Teaser

    torque, torch, queer, intricate

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- to turn

      • Proto-Indo-European *terkʷti

        • Anatolian

          • Hittite 𒋻𒆪𒉿𒀭𒍣 tarku-zi performs a round dance, dances in twisting manner
      • Proto-Indo-European *terkʷeti

        • Albanian tjerr I spin
        • Hellenic

          • Mycenaean Greek *to-ro-qe

            • Mycenaean Greek 𐀵𐀫𐀤𐀍𐀕𐀜 to-ro-qe-jo-me-no ?
            • Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀵𐀫𐀣𐀲 e-to-ro-qa-ta oar holder …

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30. Word Family - Two

    June theme: Pride In Words 🏳️‍🌈

    Teaser

    two, neodymium, duet, biceps, bi-, biscuit, duplicate, Maldives, doppelganger, icosahedron, twin, nonbinary

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ two

      • Old Armenian երկու erku two ^[1]

        • Old Armenian կրկին krkin double, doubled, iterated

          • Armenian կրկին krkin double, again, once more
        • Armenian երկու erku two
      • Italic *duō two …

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31. Word Family - Thread

    May theme: Cloth 👘

    Teaser

    throw, dreidel, tribade, attrition, thresh, tour, turn, tournament, thread, detergent

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- to rub, turn

      • Proto-Indo-European *terh₁ti

        • Balto-Slavic

          • Lithuanian trinti to rub
          • Slavic *tèrti to rub

            • East Slavic

              • Russian тере́ть terétʹ to rub, to polish, to grind
            • South Slavic

              • Serbo-Croatian тр̏ти tȑti …

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32. Word Family - Fabric

    May theme: Cloth 👘

    Introduction

    A small family, apparently from *dʰeh₂bʰ-: "fit together, fitting, make".

    Germanic *(ge)dabaną: "to fit, to be fitting" and Balto-Slavic forms like Lithuanian dabinti: "to decorate, to beautify" and Slavic *dobrъ: "good" are almost certainly related to each other. Likewise Latin faber: "craftsman, maker, smith" and …

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33. Word Family - Silk

    May theme: Cloth 👘

    Teaser

    silk, 絲

    Full Text

    • Old Chinese *slɯ silk, fine thread

      • Middle Chinese sɨ silk, fine thread

        • Mandarin 絲 sī silk, fine thread
        • Cantonese 絲 si1 silk, fine thread
        • Korean 실 sil thread
        • Vietnamese tơ raw silk, thread
      • Taiwanese 絲 si silk, fine thread
      • Ancient Greek Σήρ …

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34. Word Family - Cloth

    May theme: Cloth 👘

    Teaser

    clay, glue, cloth, cloud, child

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *gleh₁- ball up, amass

      • Proto-Indo-European *gleh₁y- to smear, to stick, to glue

        • Proto-Indo-European *gléh₁iti

          • Proto-Albanian *en-gleita

            • Albanian ngjit stick, glue, adhere
        • Proto-Indo-European *gloh₁iyós sticky

          • Germanic *klajjaz clay

            • Old English clǣġ clay

              • English clay
              • English clog
          • Balto-Slavic

            • Slavic

              • East …

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35. Word Family - Sun

    April theme: Miscellaneous light and cat words 🦁

    Teaser

    helium, solar, sun, south

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ sun ^[1]

      • Balto-Slavic *sáuli sun

        • East Baltic *saulē

          • Lithuanian sáulė sun
        • West Baltic

          • Old Prussian saule sun
        • Balto-Slavic *sulnika

          • Slavic *sъlnьce sun

            • East Slavic

              • Russian солнце solnce sun
              • Ukrainian сонце sonce sun
            • South Slavic …

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36. Word Family - Light

    Teaser

    light, Lucifer, Nowruz, berkelium, Waterloo, Roxana, lunatic, lynx

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *lewk- to shine, to see

      • Proto-Indo-European *lowkéh-ti to be shining, to be visible stative

        • Balto-Slavic *laukeitei to look for?

          • East Baltic

            • Lithuanian láukti to wait, to expect, to hope for
          • Slavic *lučìti to see? to find? to accomplish …

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37. Word Family - Easter

    Introduction

    The root *h₂ews-: "sunrise" may be connected to *h₂ew-: "away from, since, again" and *h₂ewg-: "to increase, to enlarge", compare for example *h₂éwgeh₂: "sunrise, dawn" (literally, "the increase") from *h₂ewg-.

    Teaser

    Eärendil, Easter, air, soar, east, Austria, Australia, early

    Full Text

    • Pre-Proto-Indo-European *qʷ:eb-??

      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew away from, since …

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38. Word Family - Cat

    April theme: Miscellaneous light and cat words 🦁

    Teaser

    cat,caterpillar

    Full Text

    • Egyptian *Caw ^[1]

      • Coptic ϣⲁⲩ šau cat dialectic
      • Egyptian *Cawt female cat with regular feminine -t

        • Aramaic qaṭṭu cat

          • Arabic قِطّ qiṭṭ cat
          • Hebrew חָתוּל khatúl cat
          • Old Armenian կատու katu cat

            • Armenian կատու katu …

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39. Word Family - Small Horse Families

    March theme: Horses 🐎

    Introduction

    Two final, small "horse" families.

    Update: I have re-made the "ride"/"palfrey" family on a separate page. It is not small.

    Teaser

    ride, palfrey, road,

    and

    henchman

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ- to ride

      • Proto-Indo-European *reydʰ-ti primary verb

        • Germanic *rīdaną to ride

          • North Germanic

            • Old Norse ríða …

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40. Word Family - Cavalry

    March theme: Horses

    Teaser

    capercaillie, chivalry, cavalier, cavalry

    Full Text

    • ??

      • Turkic

        • Old Turkish käväl horse? ^[1]
        • Persian ?
        • Proto-Slavic *kobyla mare (female horse)

          • Russian кобы́ла kobýla mare
          • Polish kobyła mare
      • Saka kabä
      • Ancient Greek καβάλλης kabállēs nag, pony
      • Proto-Celtic *capallos

        • Brythonic *kappilos horse

          • Welsh ceffyl horse

            • English Cavall ^[2]
            • English …

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41. Word Family - Horse

    March theme: March of Horses 🐎

    Introduction

    In which car and horse turn out to be the same word: "thing that runs". As are corsair and hussar.

    Teaser

    course, corsair, current, curriculum, excursion, parkour, car, charge, walrus, horse, epicurean, corral, rush

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- to run

      • Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥séti

        • Italic …

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42. Word Family - Equus

    March theme: March of Horses 🐎

    Teaser

    hippopotamus, equestrian, zebra

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₁eḱ- swift, fast ^[1]

      • Proto-Indo-European *h₁oh₁ḱus a *o-∅-us reduplicative adjective form

        • Hellenic

          • Ancient Greek ὠκῠ́ς ōkús fast, swift

            • Ancient Greek ποδώκης podṓkēs swift-footed
            • Ancient Greek ὠκῠ́ροος ōkúroos swift-flowing

              • Ancient Greek Ὠκυρόη Ōkuróē Swift-Flowing (personal name …

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43. Word Family - Smile

    Teaser

    mirror, admire, miracle, Miranda, smile

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *smey- to laugh, to be glad

      • Proto-Indo-European *sméyeti primry verb

        • Balto-Slavic

          • Lithuanian smiêt to laugh
          • Slavic *smьjàti to laugh

            • East Slavic

              • Russian смеяться smejátʹsja to laugh, to mock
            • South Slavic

              • Serbo-Croatian смѝјати smìjati to laugh
            • West Slavic

              • Polish śmiaćsię to laugh …

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