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 don't always seem like the same word, but when you line them all up, they form a pretty reasonable semantic cloud.
  • Only Germanic ever has minimal pair of descendants derived from different versions of the roots with the same morphology.

It looks like maybe Pre-Proto-Germanic split the root into *ǵʰewd- (pour) and *gew (cry), giving Germanic minimal pairs like *geutaną vs. *kewaną, but I couldn't find any evidence outside of Germanic that required them to be different roots.

The Latin descendants mostly start with f (fundo, futilis, etc.), which is expected from *gʷʰ, but not *ǵʰ or *gʷ. de Vaan suggests that the sequence *ǵʰ+u assimilated to *gʷʰ. Or rather that Italic *χu assimilated to *fu in Pre-Latin, since Faliscan and Umbrian have possible (but not certain) cognate showing the expected h from *ǵʰ.

Teaser

gush, geyser, chemistry, fondue, god, futile

Full Text

  • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰew- to pour, to libate, to invoke, to cry, to cry out, to call out
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéweti pours, invokes, cries, calls intransitive present
      • Balto-Slavic
        • Lithuanian žavė́ti to fascinate, to charm
        • Slavic *zъvati to call
          • East Slavic
            • Russian звать zvatʹ to call, to invite
          • South Slavic
            • Serbo-Croatian зва̏ти zvȁti to call, to summon, to invite
          • West Slavic
            • Polish zwać to call, to be called
      • Germanic *kewaną to cry
        • North Germanic
          • Old Norse kjá
      • Germanic *geutaną to pour [1]
        • East Germanic
          • Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 giutan pour
        • North Germanic
          • Old Norse gjóta
            • Icelandic gjóta to give birth to, to spawn
        • West Germanic
          • Old English ġēotan to pour, to gush, to cry, to cast metal
          • Old High German giozan
            • German gießen to pour, to water, to cast metal
            • Yiddish גיסן gisn to pour, to mint coins
      • Indo-Iranian *ĵʰávate
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit हवते hávate to invoke, to call
        • Iranian
          • Avestan zavaiti invokes, curses
          • Northern Iranian
            • Scythian
              • Ossetian а́ргъауын árǧawyn officiate, perform religious services
          • Iranian *gáwbatī to say, to state
            • Northern Iranian
              • Sogdian ɣwβ- gob- to praise, to glorify
            • Western Iranian
              • Kurdish gotin to say
              • Old Persian
                • Persian گفتن goftan to say, to tell, to speak
                • Old Armenian գովեմ govem to praise, to boast
                  • Armenian գովել govel to praise
      • Italic *gʷow-
        • Latin bovō loudly call upon, cry aloud
      • Tocharian
        • Kushean ku- pour, offer libation
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwyeti pours out transitive present
      • Hellenic kʰéyyō
        • Ancient Greek χέω khéō I pour, I smelt, I melt, I scatter
      • Tocharian
        • Kushean kutk- give substance to, cast in a mold
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwéyeti causative?
      • Germanic *kawjaną
        • West Germanic
          • Old English ċīeġan to call, to name, to call upon, to invoke, to summon, to call together, to call out
      • Germanic *gausijaną
        • North Germanic
          • Old Norse geysa
            • English gush
            • Icelandic geysa to gush
              • Icelandic geysir gusher
                • Icelandic Geysir a geyser in southwestern Iceland, the first geyser described in a printed source
                  • English geyser
                    • French geyser geyser
                    • Italian geyser geyser
                    • Spanish géiser geyser
                  • German Geysir geyser
                    • Russian ге́йзер géjzer geyser
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰueh₂ call, cry (noun)
      • Albanian zulë shout, glory
      • Tocharian
        • Kushean kwā- call, invite
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwmos the act of pouring, the result of pouring, the act of crying
      • Germanic *kūmaz
        • West Germanic
          • Old High German kūm miserable
      • Hellenic
        • Ancient Greek χυμός khumós juice, sap, flavor
          • Greek χυμός chymos juice
          • Ancient Greek χύμα khúma fluid
            • Ancient Greek χυμεία khumeía the process of alloying metals, the skill of working with liquid metals [2]
              • Greek χημεία chimeía chemistry
                • Russian хи́мия xímija chemistry
              • Arabic كِيمِيَاء kīmiyāʾ chemistry
                • Hebrew כִימְיָה khímya chemistry
                • Turkish kimya chemistry
                • Medieval Latin chēmia chemistry
                  • French chimie chemistry
                    • German Chemie chemistry
                    • French chimique having to do with chemistry, chemical
                      • Italian chimica chemistry
                      • Spanish químico chemical, chemist
                      • English chemical
                    • French chimiste chemist
                      • English chemist
                        • English chemistry
                • Medieval Latin alchimia chemistry, alchemy doublet borrowing incorporating the Arabic definite article al-
                  • French alchimie alchemy
                    • English alchemy
      • Indo-Iranian *ĵʰáwmas
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit होम hóma oblatian, offering, Vedic ritual
      • Italic *fundō
        • Latin
          • Western Romance
            • French fondre to melt, to smelt, to blend
              • English found to melt, to cast
              • French fonderie foundry
                • English foundry
              • French fondue melted, fondue
                • English fondue
            • Italian fondere to fuse, to melt, to thaw, to cast, to blend
            • Spanish hundir to sink, to engulf, to destroy
          • Spanish fundir to smelt, to fade re-borrowing
          • Latin fūsiō a pouring, a melting, a casting
            • Western Romance
              • French foison abundance, spill over
              • Italian fuso melted, cast, worn out
            • French fusion mixture, fusion re-borrowing
              • English fusion
                • English fuse
          • Latin fundibulum funnel lit. "pouring instrument"
            • Western Romance
              • Old French
                • English funnel
              • Spanish fundibulo trebuchet
          • Latin cōnfundō pour together, mix up con- + fundō
            • Eastern Romance
              • Romanian cufunda to immerse, to sink into, to settle down
            • Western Romance
              • French confondre to confuse, to confound, to mix, to merge /confusion
                • English confound
              • Italian confondere to mix up, to confuse, to embarass
              • Spanish confundir to confuse, to counfound, to baffle
            • Latin cōnfūsus mixed, combined, confused
              • Western Romance
                • Old French
                  • English confuse
          • Latin diffundō I pour apart dis- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French diffuser to diffuse, to broadcast
                • English diffuse
          • Latin effundō I pour out, I shed, I give up, I waste ex- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English effuse
          • Latin infundō I pour into in- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English infuse
          • Latin profundō I pour forth, I squander pro- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English profuse
          • Latin refundō pour back
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English refund
              • French refuser to refuse [3]
                • English refuse
          • Latin profundō I pour forth, I squander pro- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English profuse
          • Latin sufundō I pour into, I suffuse sub- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English suffuse
          • Latin trānsfundō I pour between, I decant, I transfuse trans- + fundō
            • Western Romance
              • French
                • English transfuse
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutus the act of crying out, the act of calling
      • Celtic *gutus voice
        • Old Irish guth voice
          • Irish guth voice, vote
      • Tocharian kuk-
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰiǵʰéwti reduplicated present
      • Indo-Iranian
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit जुहोति juhóti to sprinkle on, to worship with, to offer a sacrifice to
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeǵʰówe reduplicated stative?
      • Hellenic
        • Ancient Greek κέχῠκᾰ kékhuka I poured, I smelted, I melted, I scattered
      • Indo-Iranian
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit जुहाव juhāva relinquished
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutós poured, invoked adjective
      • Germanic *gudą god, deity
        • East Germanic
          • Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌸 guþ god
        • North Germanic
          • Old Norse goð god, deity
            • Icelandic goð god, idol, pagan god
          • Old Norse goði priest
        • West Germanic
          • Old English god god
            • English god
          • Old High German got god
            • German Gott god
      • Hellenic *kʰutós
        • Ancient Greek χυτός khutós poured
      • Indo-Iranian *ĵʰutás
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit हुत hutá offered in fire, poured out, oblation, offering
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwtis abstract action noun
      • Italic
        • Latin fūtis pitcher
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwteh₂lós
      • Italic
        • Latin fūtilis easily poured out, leaky, untrustworthy, worthless, futile
          • Western Romance
            • French futile futile
              • English futile
            • Italian futile futile
            • Spanish fútil insignificant
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwmn̥ result noun
      • Hellenic *kʰéumə
        • Ancient Greek χεῦμᾰ kheûma that which is poured
      • Phrygian ζευμάν dzeuman spring (source of water)
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwtōr pourer
      • Indo-Iranian *ĵʰáwtā
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit होतृ hótṛ
        • Iranian
          • Avestan zaotar priest, invoker
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéwtlom
      • Hellenic
        • Ancient Greek χύτλον khútlon something that can be poured, fluid
      • Indo-Iranian *ĵʰawtrám
        • Indo-Aryan
          • Sanskrit होत्र hotrá a sacrifice, the act or office of sacrificing
        • Iranian
          • Avestan zaoθrā libation, offering [4]
            • Persian زور‏ zowr libation
            • Georgian ზორვა zorva sacrifice
            • Armenian զոհ zoh sacrifice, victim
            • Aramaic zauθrā bread offered to spirits
          • Western Iranian
            • Old Persian
              • Persian ژون‏ žun idol [4]
    • Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰuHos
      • Hellenic
        • Ancient Greek γόος góos wailing, weeping, lament

Visual

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Collected English words

gush, geyser, chemical, chemist, chemistry, alchemy, found, foundry, fondue, fusion, fuse, funnel, confound, confuse, diffuse, effuse, infuse, profuse, refund, refuse, profuse, suffuse, transfuse, god, futile

Footnotes

  1. ^

    gut and/or goth might also be from Germanic *geutaną. Even more tentatively, gutter and gout (both from Latin gutta`: "droplet") could conceivably be related via a borrowing from Germanic into Latin.

  2. ^

    There are possible origins on Greek χυμεία khumeía.

    School 1: The Arabic could come for the Greek "to work with liquid metals" from "to pour, to melt" as show here.

    School 2: Or it could come from a Coptic word meaning "the Egyptian science" from Coptic ⲕⲏⲙⲉ kēme: "Egypt" from Egyptian 𓆎𓅓𓊖𓏏 kmt: "Egypt". I've told this story a lot over the years, before encountering the Greek word "to pour", which makes it seem like a bit of a stretch/folk etymology. On the other hand, Diocletian is supposed to have issued a decree against "the ancient writings of the Egyptians, which treat of the khēmia transmutation of gold and silver", though I have been unable to track down a primary source on that, just a bunch of etymologies of chemistry/alchemy referencing each other.

    Most likely it's probably both, based on a Koine era conflation of the words.

    The words for chemistry and alchemy exist side by side and continue to influence each other's forms for an extensive time period in quite a few languages. I mostly simplified that out of the derivations here.

  3. ^

    Sometimes refuse is traced to a Vulgar Latin blending of refutō and recusō, but that seems unnecessarily complicated compared it to just being literally "to pour back".

  4. ^

    Avestan zaoθrā: "libation, offering" and Persian ژون‏ žun: "idol" are close enough to Zarathustra (the Avestan prophet) and Zun (the 8th C Afghani Sun God), respectively, to raise questions, but neither seems related.

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