Other articles

  1. Word Family - Ahmose

    Introduction

    This word for "moon" is wide spread through Afro-Asiatic and specifically Semitic languages. The one exception is Arabic which uses قمر qamar for moon, instead of the expected *war(i)ḵ. The origin of qamar is unsolved.

    Though Arabic may have borrowed the word tārīk: "date, time, time-keeping" from the Safaitic …

    read more
  2. Word Family - Odin

    Teaser

    Odin, Wednesday, Vatican

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *weh₂t- excited, inspired, possessed, raging
      • Proto-Indo-European *wéh₂tos
        • Germanic *wōdaz
          • East Germanic
            • Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐌳𐍃 wōds possessed (as by a demon)
          • North Germanic
            • Old Norse óðr mad, furious, inspired
              • Old Norse Óðr Divinity name: husband of Freja [1]
              • Icelandic óður furious, frantic, crazy
          • West …
    read more
  3. Word Family - Wolf

    Teaser

    wolf, wolframite, Ralph, Raoul, lycanthrope, lupus

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *welkʷ- dangerous?, wild?
      • Proto-Indo-European *wl̥kʷós
        • Anatolian
          • Hittite 𒉿𒀠𒆪𒉿𒀸 walkuwa-
        • Celtic *ulk(ʷ)os evil, bad or from *h₁elk-: "wound"
          • Old Irish olc evil
            • Irish olc evil, bad, grudge, misfortune, unfortunate
          • Lepontic 𐌖𐌋𐌊𐌏𐌔 ulkos Evil? Wolf? (personal name) [1]
        • Indo-Iranian *w …
    read more
  4. Word Family - Work

    Teaser

    work, wrought, boulevard, energy, argon, allergy, Demiurge, liturgy, metallurgy, surgeon, organic organize

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *werǵ- to make
      • Proto-Indo-European *wérǵeti makes
        • Albanian argëtój I entertain, I amuse
        • Celtic *wregeti does, makes
          • Brythonic *gwrėɣɨd
            • Welsh gwneud doing, making
            • Pictish ᚒᚏᚏᚐᚉᚈ urract he made
          • Old Irish fairged
      • Proto-Indo-European *wr̥ǵti
        • Indo-Iranian …
    read more
  5. Word Family - Arctic

    Introduction

    Here I'm following Blažek's compelling argument (2017) to derive *h₂ŕ̥Tḱos from *h₂r̥dh₂éḱh₃-s: "bee-eater", similar to many later words for bear that mean things like "honey eater", "honey pig", "thief of bees", "bee bear", "bee wolf", … . This instead of the traditional connection …

    read more
  6. Word Family - Nebula

    Teaser

    nephology, Niflheim, Nibelungenlied, nebula

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *nebʰ- cloudy, misty, damp [1]
      • Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos cloud, mist, moisture
        • Anatolian *nébos
          • Hittite 𒉈𒂊𒁉𒅖 nēpis sky, heaven
          • Luwic
            • Cuneiform Luwian 𒋫𒀊𒉺𒀸𒊭 tappassa sky, heaven
            • Lycian 𐊗𐊀𐊂𐊀𐊛𐊀𐊈𐊀 tabahaza
        • Pre-Armenian *m̥bʰos
          • Old Armenian ամպ amp cloud
            • Armenian ամպ amp cloud
        • Balto-Slavic *nébas cloud, sky
          • East Baltic …
    read more
  7. Hades - Supergiant Games

    Introduction

    I had a lot of fun playing Supergiant Games's Hades recently, so I put together a run down of word family information for the names in the game, organized according to the in-game Codex! (Minus the Fables section, which is more spoiler-y and generally less etymologically interesting.)

    This will …

    read more
  8. Word Family - Justice

    Introduction

    June is for Justice. Justice is Life. ✊🏿✊🏽✊🏼 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

    Teaser

    hygiene, forever, not, age, eternal, medieval, young, rejuvenate, junior, jury, injury, prejudice, justice

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- life, age, vital, eternal
      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂óyu
        • Old Armenian այո ayo yes "on my life??"
          • Armenian այո ayo yes
        • Indo-Iranian *Hā́yu lifetime, life
          • Indo-Aryan …
    read more
  9. Word Family - Warlock

    Introduction

    "Warlock" originally meant "oathbreaker", a compound of *wērō: "truth, oath" and *lugô: "liar". Here I have the families for both pieces of the compound.

    There also used to be a related word in Old English þēodloga, which I am quite fond of. It would have been thedelock in English …

    read more
  10. Word Family - Flower

    May theme: Plants 🌱

    Introduction

    I'm in the process of expanding this family, after merging the original Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃-: "flower" with Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ-: "to swell" (originally under title word a href="/word-family-budget.html"Budget/a)—and putting both under Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-: "to blow, to swell up".

    Teaser

    ball …

    read more
  11. Word Family - Pterodactyl

    April theme: Dinosaurs and Friends🦕

    Introduction

    Pterodactyl. Two cool realizations about Greek "pter-". 1) "Helicopter" is so strongly segmented as "heli-copter" in English, it's fun to realize that the Greek construction is actually "helico-pter": "twisting (helix) wing". 2) More recently I realized it's an awesome example of Grimm's Law: apply …

    read more
  12. Word Family - Arbiter

    December theme: Pre-Classical Mediterranean 🏝

    Teaser

    Europe, Maghreb, Arabia, Erebus

    Full Text

    • Semitic *[ʕ/ġ]rb to depart, to set [1]
      • Central Semitic
        • Arabic ġaraba
        • Northwest Semitic
          • Aramaic ערובה ʿrōbā sunset, evening, (Sabbath) eve
          • Canaanite
            • Phoenician *'irōb
              • Homeric Greek Εὐρώπη Eurṓpē Western shore of the Aegean,\nmainland Greece\n(as opposed to Pelopennese …
    read more
  13. Word Family - Egypt

    December theme: Pre-Classical Mediterranean 🏝

    Teaser

    Ptah, Egypt, Hephaestus

    Full Text

    • Afro-Asiatic *ptḥ to create?, to begin?
      • Egyptian ptḥ Ptah, self-created divinity of craft and creation
        • English Ptah
        • Egyptian ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ Temple of the Soul of Ptah, Memphis
          • Mycenaean Greek *ai-ku-pi-to
            • Ancient Greek Αἴγυπτος Aíguptos Egypt, the Nile
              • Latin Aegyptus Egypt
                • Western …
    read more
  14. Word Family - Venom

    November theme: Spiders 🕷️

    Teaser

    win, wish, Venus, Darwin, vanadium, venom, wonder, winsome

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- to love, to want
      • Proto-Indo-European *wn̥h₁néwti?
        • Germanic *winnaną to strive, to work, to gain, to win
          • East Germanic
            • Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 winnan to suffer
              • Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰 winna suffering, passion, the letter 𐍅
          • North Germanic
            • Old Norse …
    read more
  15. Word Family - Witch

    Introduction

    Bonus word family for Halloween by special request from my 4 year old: "witch" from *weyk-: "to separate, to choose, to consecrate".

    *weyk- looks like an extended root implying *wey-, but I can't find any clear evidence for that root. If it is an extension of *wey-, a zero-grade …

    read more
  16. Word Family - Moon

    October theme: Nighttime 🌃

    Teaser

    measure, meal, moon, month, medicine, modest, modem

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *meh₁- to measure
      • Proto-Indo-European *miméh₁ti
        • Indo-Iranian *mimáHti
          • Indo-Aryan
            • Sanskrit मिमीते mimīte to measure, to mark off
          • Iranian
            • Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬨𐬍𐬨𐬀𐬚𐬁
      • Proto-Indo-European *moh₁ros big, great
        • Celtic *māros big, great
          • Brythonic *mọr
            • Welsh mawr large, big, great
          • Old …
    read more
  17. Word Family - Star

    October theme: Nighttime 🌃

    Teaser

    arid, star, disaster

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁s- to be dry, to burn, ashes, hearth
      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁seh₁(ye)-ti stative
        • Italic *āzēō
          • Latin āreō I am dry, I am parched, I am withered
            • Latin āridus dry, withered, arid, shrivelled, uninspired
              • Western Romance
                • Italian …
    read more
  18. Word Family - Night

    October theme: Nighttime 🌃

    Teaser

    naga, naked, gym, night, nocturnal

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *negʷ- bare
      • Proto-Indo-European *nogʷó-s naked thing, naked one noun
        • Balto-Slavic *nōˀgás naked
          • Lithuanian núogas naked
          • Slavic *nȃgъ naked
            • East Slavic
              • Russian наго́й nagój naked
            • South Slavic
              • Serbo-Croatian наг nag naked
            • West Slavic
              • Polish nagi naked …
    read more
  19. Word Family - Community

    September theme: Community 🏘️

    Teaser

    municipal, common, communicate, Mithra, mix, mutant, miss

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *mey- to exchange, to intermingle
      • Proto-Indo-European *moyno-s
        • Italic *moinos
          • Latin mūnus service, duty, obligation, public office
            • Latin mūniceps citizen (duty-taker)
              • Latin mūnicipium township, town
                • Western Romance
                  • Italian municipo town council, town hall, government office
              • Latin mūnicipālis …
    read more
  20. Word Family - Guest

    September theme: Community 🏘️

    Introduction

    This word for "guest"/"host" is restricted to the Late Northwest Indo-European languages, appearing—as far as I know—only in Balto-Slavic, Germanic, and Italic, plus a single personal name in Lepontic (Celtic). It seems to be cognate to a word for "to eat" which is …

    read more
  21. Word Family - Embassy

    June theme: Celtic Iron Age

    Introduction

    Apologies for the sketchy nature. This one exploded on me in several different ways.

    1. Prior to working on this family, I knew that "ambassador"/"embassy" was from Gaulish via Latin, and I had connected that to the story Livy tells about the Battle of …
    read more
  22. Word Family - Father

    May theme: kinship terms 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧

    Teaser

    pastor, Pan, food, pants, father, pattern

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- to protect, to watch over, to shepherd
      • Proto-Indo-European *péh₂-ti primary verb form
        • Indo-Iranian *pā́ti
          • Indo-Aryan
            • Sanskrit 𑀧𑀸𑀢𑀺 pā́ti to watch, to keep, to protect, to rule
          • Iranian *pāta-
            • Avestan 𐬞𐬁𐬝 pāt̰ protects
            • Western Iranian …
    read more
  23. Word Family - Mother

    May theme: kinship terms 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧

    Introduction

    ma: "mother", from Proto-World! Or—more likely—convergent development from onomatopoeia of nursing sounds.

    Teaser

    mother, matrix, material, Manchester, mammal

    Full Text

    • Proto-World? ma
      • Bantu mààmá mother
        • Swahili mama mother
        • Zulu úm̤áma my mother
      • Basque ama mother
      • Dravidian *amma mother
        • Northern Dravidian
          • Brahui امّا ammā …
    read more
  24. Word Family - Rex

    December theme: Religion 📿

    Introduction

    This is the family that no matter how long I work on it, it's never done. That's what I get for trying to explore the possibility that two extremely important and productive roots may be connected: *h₂er-, related to cosmic order, and *h₃reǵ-, related …

    read more
  25. 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 …
    read more
  26. 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 …

    read more
  27. 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 ); Latin d corresponds …

    read more
  28. 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 …
    read more
  29. 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 …

    read more
  30. 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 …

    read more
  31. 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 …
    read more
  32. Word Family - Easter

    Teaser

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

    Full Text

    • Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- dawn, east
      • Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsōs Divinity of Dawn
        • Germanic *auzi
          • Germanic *Auziwandilaz Bright-Wanderer, Dawn-Wanderer, Morning Star personal name [1]
            • East Germanic
              • Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐌶𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌻 auzandil morning star (Venus), Lucifer
            • North Germanic
              • Old Norse Aurvandil
            • West Germanic
              • Old …
    read more
  33. 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), river divinity …
    read more

social