Introduction

This is quite a large family with a number of borrowings into other language families. Because, it turns out, the Indo-European speakers' relationship with wheels is pretty important in a lot of people's history, like the Sumerians' relationship with reeds.

There is also a root *wel(h₁)-: "to turn, to wind, to eddy", which it's hard to argue is completely unrelated to *kʷel(h₁)-: "to roll, to turn"! But they're both quite big families, and I couldn't manage to do them both at once. The *wel(h₁)- family includes words like revolution, waltz, walk, vulgar, and wall. And then there's *welh₁-: "to choose, to want", possibly "to turn towards"?, with words like will and voloptuous.

Teaser

talisman, pole, culture, Galileo, wheel, cycle, collar, palimpsest, loaf

Full Text

• Proto-Indo-European

  • Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁- to roll, to turn

    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁eti rolls, travels primary verb

      • Albanian sjell to turn, to bring, to dawdle
      • Hellenic *kʷélō

        • Classical Greek πέλω pélō I go, I become, I am

          • Classical Greek πάλαι pálai gone, far away, long ago

            • English paleo-
      • Indo-Iranian *čárati

        • Indo-Aryan *ćárati

          • Sanskrit 𑀘𑀭𑀢𑀺 cárati moves, walks, wanders, directs, behaves

            • Pali carati walks, moves
        • Iranian *čárati

          • Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬭𐬁𐬥𐬍 carānī I move, I approach
          • Northern Iranian

            • Scythian

              • Ossetian цӕрын cæryn I live
          • Pashto څرېدل caredal to take to pasture, to set to graze
          • Western Iranian

            • Northwestern Iranian

              • Kurdish çerîn to set to graze
            • Old Persian

              • Persian چریدن to take to pasture, to set to graze
      • Italic *kʷelezi

        • Latin colere I plow, I cultivate, I inhabit, I worship

          • Latin -cola inhabitor, cultivator, worshipper

            • Latin agricola farmer lit. "field-turner"

              • Latin Agricola Farmer personal or family name

                • English Agricola ^[1]
              • French agricole agricultural
          • Latin colōnus farmer, inhabitant, colonist

            • Central Romance

              • Italian colono colonist, settler, farmer
            • Western Romance

              • French colon colonist, colonizer, camper, sharecropper
              • Spanish colono colonist, settler, farmer ^[2]
            • Latin colōnia colony, settlement, estate

              • English colony
              • Latin Colōnia Agrippīna Agrippine Colony, Cologne

                • Western Romance

                  • French Cologne

                    • English Cologne
                    • French eau de Cologne

                      • English cologne
                      • Russian одеколо́н odekolón cologne
                  • German Köln
              • Latin Lindum Colōnia Lincoln with Lindum from Brythonic *Lindon meaning "pool"

                • English Lincoln
        • Italic *inkʷelō

          • Italic *inkʷelīnos

            • Latin inquilīnus sojourner, tenant, of foreign origin
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥nh₁eti presumably a -ne- infix, but all descendants show assimilation of the zero-grade infix to the *l̥, resulting in *-Vll-

      • Celtic *kʷalleti

        • Brythonic *pallad

          • Welsh pallu to fail, to cease, to perish, to refuse
      • Hellenic

        • Classical Greek τέλλω téllō I accomplish, I perform, I rise

          • Classical Greek ἀνᾰτέλλω anatéllō I rise, I raise up, I grow, I bring to light

            • Classical Greek ἀνατολή anatolḗ sun rise, rise, east, growth

              • Medieval Latin Anatolia

                • English Anatolia

                  • English Anatolian
              • Greek Ανατόλιος Easterner (personal name)

                • Latin Anatolius

                  • French Anatole
                • Russian Анато́лий Anatólij
      • Tocharian

        • Arshian källāṣ to lead, to bring
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁esyeti

      • Hellenic *kʷeléyyō

        • Classical Greek τελέω teléō I complete, I fulfill, I perform, I present, I pay

          • Classical Greek τέλεσμα télesma completion, payment, taxes, certificate

            • Byzantine Greek τέλεσμα télesma completion, religious rite, talisman

              • Arabic طلسم ṭilasm enigma, talisman, cryptogram

                • French talisman

                  • English talisman
                • Georgian თილისმა tilisma mascot, talisman
                • Turkish tılsım charm, talisman
              • French talisman

                • English talisman
              • English telesm
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷólh₁os

      • Balto-Slavic *kalas

        • Slavic *kȍlo wheel, circle
      • Celtic *kʷolos

        • Old Irish cul chariot?

          • Old Irish culgaire chariot noise with gaire: "call, shout"
      • Hellenic *kʷólos

        • Classical Greek πόλος pólos axle, pivot, hinge

          • Greek πόλος pólos pole (of an axis or battery)

            • Greek Βόρειος Πόλος North Pole
          • Latin polus pole (of an axis)

            • Old French pole

              • French pôle
              • English pole ^[3]
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥h₁tós turned adjective

      • Italic *kʷəltos

        • Latin cultus tilled, cultivated, nurtured, worshipped, religious group

          • French culte

            • English cult
          • Latin cultūra care, cultuivation, agriculture, culture

            • French culture

              • English culture
            • Italian cultura
            • Spanish cultura
            • Latin agricultūra "field-cultivation"

              • English agriculture
          • Medieval Latin cultīvus

            • Medieval Latin cultivō

              • Medieval Latin culativātus

                • English cultivate
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷélh₁os

      • Hellenic *kʷélos

        • Classical Greek τέλος télos completion, fulfillment, result, end, death, highest authority, taxes

          • Greek τέλος end, finish
          • Classical Greek Ἀριστοτέλης Aristotélēs personal name: Best-Result

            • Latin Aristotelēs Aristotle

              • English Aristotle
          • Classical Greek ὑποτελής hupotelḗs subject to paying taxes, tributary, taxable

            • Greek υποτελής ypotelís vassal, subordinate, submissive
          • Classical Greek τελωνιον telōnion custom house

            • Latin telonium toll booth, custom house, tariff

              • Western Romance

                • Old French tolniu

                  • French tonlieu market toll, tariff modified by association with lieu
              • English telonium
              • English thelony
          • English tele(o)-
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁om

      • Balto-Slavic

        • West Baltic

          • Old Prussian kelan wheel
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlh₁os

      • Anatolian *kuakula?? wheels (collective) ^[4]

        • Hittite 𒆪𒄢𒆷 KU.GUL.LA donut
        • Sumerian 𒇀 GIGIR chariot
        • Northwest Semitic *GLGL wheels, rolling

          • Hebrew גלגל gálgal wheel
          • Hebrew התגלגל hitgalgél to roll
          • Hebrew גליל galíl circle, cylinder, wheel, region, district

            • Hebrew הגליל haGalíl Galilee

              • Classical Greek Γαλιλαία Galilaía Galilee

                • Latin Galilaea Galilee

                  • French Galilée

                    • English Galilee
                • Classical Greek Γαλιλαῖος Galilaîos Galilean

                  • Latin galilaeus Galilean, Christian

                    • Central Romance

                      • Italian Galileo Personal name: Galilean, Christian

                        • Italian Galileo Galilei
                        • English Galileo

                          • English Galilean

                            • English Galilean moon
                        • Italian Galilei Surname: son of or descendant of Galileo

                          • Italian Galileo Galilei
              • Yiddish גליל Golel Galilee
      • Balto-Slavic *kaklas neck ^[5]

        • East Baltic

          • Lithuanian kãklas neck, collar
          • Finnic *kakla

            • Finnish kaula neck
      • Germanic *hwehwlą wheel

        • North Germanic

          • Old Norse hvél

            • Icelandic hvel wheel, disk, circle
        • Germanic *hweulō wheels

          • North Germanic

            • Old Norse hjól wheel

              • Danish hjul wheel
              • Icelandic hjól wheel, tire

                • Icelandic reiðhjól bicycle
          • West Germanic

            • Old English hwēol wheel

              • English wheel
            • Frankish *wiol

              • Dutch wiel wheel
      • Hellenic

        • Classical Greek κῠ́κλος kúklos circle, wheel, crowd, sphere

          • Greek κύκλος kýklos circle, cycle, course
          • Latin cyclus circle, cycle

            • French cycle

              • English cycle

                • Japanese サイクル saikuru cycle, bicycle
              • French bicycle

                • French bicyclette
                • English bicycle
            • Italian ciclo
            • Spanish ciclo
          • English Kuklos Adelphon Greek learned borrowing: "circle of brothers"

            • English Ku Klux Klan
          • Classical Greek κυκλόω kuklóō to go in a circle, to surround

            • English cyclone
          • Classical Greek Κύκλωψ Kúklōps cyclops partly ^[6]

            • English cyclops
      • Indo-Iranian *čakrám wheel

        • Indo-Aryan *ćakrám

          • Sanskrit 𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀭 cakrá wheel, circle, cycle

            • Magadhi

              • Bengali চাকা caka
            • Pali cakka wheel, circle, cycle, command

              • Burmese စက် cak circle, wheel, cycle, machine
              • Thai จักร jàk wheel, circle, gear, chakra, realm
            • Sauraseni

              • Madhya Sauraseni

                • Hindi चक्कर cakkar circle, curve, roundabout
            • Telugu చక్రము cakramu wheel
            • English chakra
            • English chakram
            • Sanskrit 𑀘𑀓𑁆𑀭𑀯𑀭𑁆𑀢𑀺𑀦𑁆 cakravartin

              • English chakravartin
        • Iranian *čaxrám

          • Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬑𐬭𐬀 caxra wheel
          • Northern Iranian

            • Alanian

              • Ossetian цалх calx wheel
          • Pashto څرخ carx
          • Western Iranian

            • Northwestern Iranian

              • Balochi چہر čahr
              • Kurdish çerx wheel
            • Old Persian

              • Persian چرخ čarx wheel, cart, spool, pulley
          • Iranian *čaxrákah spinning wheel

            • Western Iranian

              • Northwestern Iranian

                • Balochi چہرگ čahrag
              • Old Persian

                • Persian چرخه čarxe spinning wheel
        • Finnic *kecrä spindle, wheel, flywheel

          • Finnish kehrä spindle, disk of the Sun or Moon
          • Finnish kekri harvest festival "turning of the year?"
      • Phrygian κίκλην kíklēn
      • Tocharian *kukäle

        • Arshian kukäl wagon, cart
        • Kushean kokale wagon, cart
        • Old Chinese *kla chariot ^[7]

          • Middle Chinese 車 kɨʌ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess) ^[7]

            • Mandarin 車 jū chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
            • Wu 車 geoi¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
            • Yue 車 jy¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
          • Min Nan 車 chhia
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷolh₁som

      • Italic *kʷolsom

        • Latin collum neck ^[5]

          • Central Romance

            • Italian collo neck, collar, package
          • Insular Romance

            • Sardinian coddu neck
          • Western Romance

            • Old French col

              • French cou neck
              • French col collar, neck (of a vase, etc.)

                • English col
            • Spanish cuello neck, collar
          • Latin collāris of the neck, collared

            • Old French coler

              • French colier
              • English collar

                • Irish coiléar collar, truss
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷolh₁sos

      • Germanic *halsaz neck ^[5]

        • East Germanic

          • Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 hals neck
        • North Germanic

          • Old Norse hals neck

            • Danish hals neck, throat
            • Icelandic háls neck, throat, a person (metonymically)
        • West Germanic

          • Old English heals neck, prow of a ship

            • English halse
            • English hause
            • English hawse

              • English hawser partly, but mostly from Norman haucier: "to raise, to lift" from altus
            • Scots hause

              • Scots hausebane collar bone ^[8]
          • Frankish *hals

            • Dutch hals neck, throat
          • Old High German hals

            • German Hals neck, throat
            • Yiddish האַלדז haldz neck
        • Germanic *frijahalsaz free, unconstrained, freedom, liberty lit. "free-neck"

          • East Germanic

            • Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌻𐍃 freihals freedom, liberty
          • North Germanic

            • Old Norse frjáls

              • Icelandic frjáls free
              • Old Norse frelsa to free, to rescue

                • Danish frelse to save, to rescue, to redeem
          • West Germanic

            • Old English frēols freedom, privilege, immunity, peace, festival day
            • Old High German frīhals freedom, liberation
        • Germanic *halsōną to neck, to embrace

          • North Germanic

            • Old Norse halsa

              • Swedish halsa to chug
          • West Germanic

            • Old English *healsian

              • Middle English halsen to embrace
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷl̥h₁is

      • Hellenic

        • Classical Greek *pális back, reverse "turned part"

          • Classical Greek πᾰ́λῐν pálin backwards, again

            • Greek πάλι páli again
            • Coptic ⲡⲁⲗⲓⲛ palin again
            • Classical Greek πᾰλῐ́μψηστος palímpsēstos re-scraped

              • Latin palimpsēstus manuscript scraped clean for re-use, palimpsest

                • English palimpsest
    • Proto-Indo-European ?

      • Tocharian

        • Kushean kleŋke wagon
        • Old Chinese *kla chariot ^[7]

          • Middle Chinese 車 kɨʌ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess) ^[7]

            • Mandarin 車 jū chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
            • Wu 車 geoi¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
            • Yue 車 jy¹ chariot (xiangqi), rook (chess)
          • Min Nan 車 chhia
        • Old Chinese *kʰlja chariot, cart ^[7]

          • Middle Chinese 車 t͡ɕʰia chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe ^[7]

            • Mandarin 車 chē chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
            • Wu 車 tsho¹ chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
            • Yue 車 ce¹ chariot, cart, vehicle, machine, to lathe
            • Japanese 車 sha vehicle, train car, counter for vehicle
            • Korean 차 cha vehicle, especially a car
            • Vietnamese xe wheeled vehicle
        • Old Chinese *kloːɡ hub, wheel, chariot

          • Middle Chinese 轂 kuk̚ hub, wheel, chariot

            • Mandarin 轂 gǔ hub, wheel, chariot
            • Yue 轂 guk¹ hub, wheel, chariot
          • Min Nan 轂 kok hub, wheel, chariot
    • Uralic *kulke- to go, to walk

      • Finno-Ugric

        • Finnic *kulkedak

          • Finnish kulkea to go, to walk, to travel
        • Ugric

          • Hungarian halad to proceed, to advance
      • Samoyedic

        • Nenets хуˮла χūllā to drift
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷlh₁ewt- to turn, to change a new root re-analyzed from a zero-grade form?

      • Proto-Indo-European *kʷlh₁utsḱéti iterative verb

        • Tocharian *klutk-

          • Arshian lutk- to make, to change, to become, to turn into
          • Kushean klutk- to make, to change, to become, to turn into
      • Proto-Indo-European *kʷlh₁ewtsm̥

        • Albanian qeshë was suppletive past tense of jam
    • Proto-Indo-European *klh₁eyp-? (flat) bread ^[9]

      • Balto-Slavic

        • East Baltic

          • Lithuanian kliẽpas loaf of bread
      • Germanic *hlaibaz

        • East Germanic

          • Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 hlaifs bread
          • Slavic *xlě̀bъ

            • East Slavic хлѣбъ xlěbŭ

              • Russian хлеб xleb bread, loaf, living
            • South Slavic

              • Old Church Slavonic хлѣбъ xlěbŭ bread, loaf
              • Serbo-Croatian хље̏б hljȅb bread, loaf
            • West Slavic

              • Polish chleb bread, work
        • North Germanic

          • Old Norse hleifr loaf

            • Danish lev
            • Icelandic hleifur loaf (of bread)
        • West Germanic

          • Old English hlāf bread, loaf

            • English loaf
            • Scots laif
            • Old English hlǣfdīġe mistress of a household lit. "bread-kneader"

              • English lady
            • Old English hlāfweard master of a houshold lit. "bread-guard"

              • English lord
              • Scots laird
        • Finnic *laipa

          • Finnish leipä bread
        • Samic *lājpē

          • Northern Sami láibi bread
      • Hellenic

        • Classical Greek κρῑ́βᾰνος krī́banos bread pan, bread oven also appears as klī́banos

          • Greek κλίβανος furnace
          • Latin clībanus breadpan, oven, furnace
  • Proto-Indo-European *wel(h₁)- to turn, to wind, to eddy
  • Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- to choose, to want

Visual

Collected English words

paleo-, Agricola, colony, Cologne, cologne, Lincoln, Anatolia, Anatolian, talisman, telesm, pole, cult, culture, agriculture, cultivate, Aristotle, telonium, thelony, tele(o)-, Galilee, Galileo, Galilean, Galilean moon, wheel, cycle, bicycle, Kuklos Adelphon, Ku Klux Klan, cyclone, cyclops, chakra, chakram, chakravartin, col, collar, halse, hause, hawse, hawser, palimpsest, loaf, lady, lord

Footnotes

1. ^

   As in Georgius Agricola, the Latinate name of Georg Bauer the author of "De Rei Metallica", the foundational work of geology. "Bauer" means "farmer" in German, thus the translation to "Agricola". But also, "Georg(ius)" is from Greek γεωργός geōrgós: "farmer" ("geo-" + "ergo-": "earth-work"), so he is "Farmer Farmer (Farmer)".

2. ^

   Do Spanish speakers make puns on Cristobal Colón (the Spanish version of Christopher Columbus) and colono: "colonizer"?

   (He was probably natively Cristoffa Corombo. In any case the family name meant "dove".)

3. ^

   English pole as in North Pole or the pole of a magnet is from Greek πόλος pólos: "axle, pivot point". But pole like an upright stick is from Latin palus, thus setting up much confusion as to whether there is a pole at the North Pole.

4. ^

   Sumerian 𒇀 GIGIR: "chariot" and/or Hebrew גלגל gálgal: "wheel" may derive from IE introduction of the chariot, but it is far from certain.

5. ^

   Words for "neck" are thought to come from this root via the concept of "thing that turns (your head)". Compare Armenian պարանոց paranocʿ: "neck" which is understood to be paranim: "to turn" plus -ocʿ which derives tool nouns: "thing used for turning".

   But since none of them preserve the *kʷ, identification with this root is uncertain. Baltic is a satem language, so merge of *kʷ and *k is regular. Latin regularly collapses *kʷo- into cu-, but collum shows slightly irregular co- instead. Germanic is fully irregular with *halsaz instead of *hwalsaz—perhaps the *w was absorbed by the *o before it was lowered to *a, or it could have been influenced by the Latin collum.

   Or the "neck" words of Baltic, Latin, and Germanic may not belong to this root at all and be from a root with *k-, such as *kelH-: "to rise, to be tall".

6. ^

   Κύκλωψ Kúklōps: "cyclops" can be understood as "round eye", but this may be modification of folk etymology of *péḱu-klṓps: "cattle-thief", after Greek stopped using the word *péḱu. If so, the reinterpretation of the word may have led to a re-envisioning of the creature.

7. ^

   None

   There are three Chinese words related to wheels and vehicles that sound vaguely like *kʷelh₁- or *kʷékʷlh₁os:

   車 *kʰlja/*kla: "chariot, cart"

   轂 *kloːɡ: "hub, wheel, chariot"

   軲轆 gu lu(k): "wheel"

   There's a good chance at least one of these is from Indo-European, since chariots arrived in China from the west across the steppe and through the Jade Gate.

   車 is a great example of a hanzi where you can still see the ancient pictographic origin. It's a top down view of a chariot with the an axle and wheels to the top and bottom. (Note: 車 appears as a semantic component of the hanzi 轂 and both of the hanzi in 軲轆).

   On the other hand, there are also similar sounding words with more general circular meanings that are less likely to be from Indo-European, and also provide an alternate origin for the ones above:

   回 *ɡuːl: "to turn around, to repeat, to refuse"

   歸 *klul: "to return, to come back to"

   Tibetan also has འཁོར 'khor: "to turn around, to spin, to gather, circle, wheel, cycle" and འཁོར་ལོ 'khor lo: "wheel, vehicle, chariot, machine", which adds support to a native Sino-Tibetan origin of some of them, especially, 軲轆 gu lu(k): "wheel".

8. ^

   Scots hausebane: "collar bone" (note that it's cognate to Latinate collar), as in "Ye’ll sit on his white hause-bane,/And I’ll pike out his bonny blue een./Wi’ ae lock o’ his gowden hair,/We’ll theek our nest when it grows bare."

9. ^

   *klh₁eyp-? is a plausible root for at least two words of unknown origin connected to bread: Germanic *hlaibaz: "loaf" and Classical Greek krī́banos/klī́banos: "bread pan, bread oven". The East Baltic words (represented by Lithuanian kliẽpas: "loaf of bread") may be a third, or may represent an early borrowing from Germanic, like the later Slavic borrowing.

   Germanic *hlaibaz (loaf) is thought to have originally meant flatbread, in constrast to *braudã (bread), which is connected to brew and would have meant "leavened bread". Assuming this is correct, the semantic connection to kʷel- is the wheel-like shape of most flatbread.

   On the other hand, the phonology is shaky and Classical Greek words that vary between l and r tend to be borrowings from non-IE sources. Often because the Minoan language appears not to have had an l/r distinction, and/or because some but not all Ancient Egyptian dialects in which l merged into r. So these words could also be borrowed from one or more unknown languages. (compare "lion")