guide

Guide to IED

This Dictionary carries the etymology of the Albanian language to its logical and natural conclusion, for if the documentary history of words is of interest and value, so is their reconstructed prehistory. The historical component is given in the etymologies, after the definitions in the main body of the Dictionary. This dictionary supplies the prehistoric component, tracing the ultimate Indo-European derivations of those Albanian words that are descended from a selected group of Indo-European roots.

In the dictionary, the form given in boldface type at the head of each entry is, unless otherwise identified, an Indo-European root in its basic form. The basic root form is followed in some cases by one or more variants, also in boldface type. Then the basic reconstructed meaning or meanings of the root are given. Meanings that are different parts of speech are separated by a semicolon.

After the basic meaning there may appear further information about the phonological shape or nature of the root:

skei- To cut, split. Extension of sek-.

Most, but not all, of the additional information is self-explanatory.

The text of each entry describes in detail the development of Modern Albanian words from the root. Each numbered section of an entry begins with a list, in SMALL CAPITALS, of the Modern Albanian words derived from a particular form of the root. (This list may be preceded by an intermediate step; see further below.) The simple (uncompounded) derivatives are given first; the compounds follow, separated from them by a semicolon. In some cases no further semantic or morphological development needs to be explained, and the lemma, the historically attested representative of the root, is given next, as avis at the entry awi-:

Much more commonly, however, intermediate developments require explanation. These intermediate stages are reconstructions representing a word stem in Indo-European that is necessary to explain the lemma following it. The reconstructed forms are not historically attested; they are preceded by an asterisk (*) to note this fact. Sometimes earlier or later developments of the intermediate forms are given in parentheses. In these cases the symbol < is used to mean “derived from” and the symbol > is used to mean “developed into.” Intermediate stages that are in fact attested are usually given in the etymology of the word in the main vocabulary of the Dictionary. The following terms are used to describe typical morphological processes of Indo-European:

Full-grade form: A form with e-vocalism (the basic form); so identified for descriptive contrast.

O-grade form: A form with o-vocalism:

Zero-grade form: A form with zero-vocalism:

Lengthened-grade form: A form with lengthened vocalism:

Secondary full-grade form: A new full-grade form created by inserting the fundamental vowel e in the zero-grade form of an extended root:

Basic form: The unchanged root; so identified for descriptive contrast.

Suffixed form: A form with one or more suffixes, written with an internal hyphen:

Prefixed form: A form with a prefix, written with an internal hyphen:

Extended form: A form with an extension or enlargement, written without internal hyphens:

Nasalized form: A form with a nasal infix, written with internal hyphens:

Reduplicated form: A form prefixed by its own initial consonant followed by a vowel:

Expressive form: A form with “expressive gemination” (doubling of the final consonant), written without internal hyphens:

Compound form: A form compounded with a form of another root, written with internal hyphens:

Shortened form: A form with shortened vocalism:

Reduced form: A form with loss of one or more sounds:

Oldest root form: A root form showing a laryngeal in a position, typically at the beginning or end of a root, where it is preserved in only a few Indo-European languages, such as Greek or Hittite:

Variant form: A form altered in any way other than those described in the above categories:

These terms can be combined freely to describe in as much detail as necessary the development from the root to the lemma.

In order to emphasize the fact that Albanian belongs to the Illyrian branch of Indo-European and give precedence to directly inherited words in contrast to words borrowed from other branches, the intermediate stages in Illyrian etymologies are covered in fuller detail. The Common or Proto-Illyrian (here called simply Illyrian) forms underlying Albanian words are always given. Where no other considerations intervene, Illyrian is given first of the Indo-European groups, and Old Albanian is given first within Illyrian, although this order of precedence is not rigidly applied.

Symbols:

*unattested

< derived from

> developed into

Parentheses within a form enclose sound(s) or letter(s) sometimes or optionally present.

Grammatical abbreviations used in the IED

Below is given a list of the grammatical abbreviations used.

Part of speech:

noun

noun (implied when no part of speech is supplied; also used for languages which do not have gender, e.g. Armenian)

name of a person

name of a god(dess)

PlN

placename

name of a tribe

name of a river (or any water)

name of a mountain

adj

adjective

comp

comparative

sup

superlative

adv

adverb

art

article

num

cardinal number

ord

ordinal number

pron

pronoun (not further defined)

pronpers

personal pronoun

prondem

demonstrative pronoun

pronindef

indefinite pronoun

pronrel

relative pronoun

verb

verb

part

particle (indeclinable)

enclpart

enclitic particle (indeclinable)

conj

conjunction

interj

interjection

neg

negation

prep

preposition

postp

postposition

prevb

preverb

pref

prefix

suff

suffix

1mc

the first member of a compound

2mc

the second member of a compound

Case:

Nom

nominative

Acc

accusative

Voc

vocative

Gen

genitive

Dat

dative

Abl

ablative

Ins

instrumental

Loc

locative

Obl

oblique case (e.g. in Tocharian)

Gender:

masculine

feminine

neuter

commune (e.g. in Hittite)

Number:

singular

dual

plural

Person:

first person

second person

third person

Tense:

Pres

present

Impf

imperfect

Aor

aorist

preterite

perfect

Fut

future

Mood/Formation:

Ind

indicative

Subj

subjunctive

Opt

optative

Impv

imperative

Inj

injunctive

Inf

infinitive

Ptc

participle

Voice:

Act

active

Med

middle

Pass

passive

Refl

reflexive

Various:

consonant stem

irreg

irregular

indecl

indeclinable

Denom

denominative

List of language abbreviations in the IED

Abbreviation Language name

Aeol. Aeolic

Aeq. Aequian

Akk. Akkadian

Alan. Alanian (=Old Ossetic)

Alb. Albanian

AlbG Geg

AlbT Tosc

Alem. Alemannian

Anat. Anatolian

Ang. Anglian

AngN Anglo-Norman

Aram.-Iran Aramaeo-Iranian

Arc. Arcadian

Arm. Armenian (=class.)

Ash. Ashkun

Ass. Assyrian

Att. Attic

Auk. Aukshtaitian

Av. Avestan

Bactr. Bactrian

Bal. Baluchi

Bav. Bavarian

Bel. Belorussian

Bl. Baltic

Boe. Boeotian

Br. British

Bret. Breton

BSl. Balto-Slavic

Bulg. (Modern) Bulgarian

Burg. Burgundian

BVan. Bas-Vannetais

Car. Carian

CCl. Continental Celtic

Chak. Chakavian

Chor. Chorasmian

CIb. Celtiberian

Cl. Celtic

Class. Skt. Classical Sanskrit

Co. Cornish

Corn. Cornouillais

Cret. Cretan

CrGo. Crimean Gothic

Cur. Curonian

Cypr. Cypriot

Cz. Czech

Dac. Dacian

Dan. Danish

Dard. Dardic

Dor. Doric

Dzuk. Dzukian

EBl. East Baltic

EFra. East Franconian

EGm. East Germanic

EGmRun. East-Germanic Runic

El. Elymian

Elam. Elamite

Elam.-Iran. Elamo-Iranian

EMoBret. Early Modern Breton

EMoIr. Early Modern Irish

EMoW Early Modern Welsh

ESl. East Slavic

Etr. Etruscan

Faer. Faeroese

Fal. Faliscan

Fi. Finnish

Fr. French

Fra. Franconian

Fri. Modern Frisian

FriRun. Frisian Runic

Gal. Galindian

Galat. Galatian

Gallo-Gk. Gallo-Gk. (in Gk. authors)

Gallo-Lat. Gallo-Latin (in Lat. authors)

Gaul. Gaulish

GaulG Gaulish in Greek letters

GaulL Gaulish in Lat. letters

GAv. Gatha-Avestan

Gm. Germanic

Go. Gothic

Gr. Greek

Hebr. Hebrew

Hell. Hellenistic

Hi. Hindi

Hitt. Hittite

HLuv. Hieroglyphic Luvian

HVan. Haut-Vannetais

IE Indo-European

IIr. Indo-Iranian

Ill. Illyrian

Ind. Indic

InsCl. Insular Celtic

Ion. Ionian

Ion.-Att. Ionic-Attic

Ir. Irish

Iran. Iranian

It. Italic

It.-Cl. Italo-Celtic

Ital. Italian

Kajk. Kajkavian

Kash. Kashubian

Ken. Kentish

Khot. Khotanese (=Saka)

Kurd. Kurdish

Lak. Lakonian

Lang. Langobardian

Lat. Latin

Latg. Latgalian

Latv. Latvian

LAv. Late Avestan

LCo. Late Cornish

Lep. Lepontic

Lesb. Lesbian

Lig. Ligurian

Lith. Lithuanian

Liv. Livonian

LLat. Late Latin

LPBr. Late Proto-British

LSrb. Lower Sorbian

Lus. Lusitanian

Luv. (Cuneiform) Luvian

Lyc. Lycian

LycA Lycian A

LycB Lycian B

Lyd. Lydian

Mac. Macedonian

MArm. Middle Armenian

Marr. Marrucinian

Mars. Marsian

Maz. Mazanderani

Mbret. Middle Breton

MBulg. Middle Bulgarian

Mcd. Macedonian

MCo. Middle Cornish

MDu. Middle Dutch

ME Middle English

Med. Median

Merc. Mercian

Mess. Messapic

MFr. Middle French

MFra. Middle Franconian

MHG Middle High German

MIA Middle Indo-Aryan

MIc. Middle Icelandic

MIr. Middle Irish

with. Mitanni

MLat. Medieval Latin

MLG Middle Low German

MnLE Restsprachen east

MnLW Restsprachen west

MoArm. Modern Armenian

MoBret. Modern Bret.

MoCo. Modern Cornish

MoDu. Modern Dutch

MoE Modern English

MoHG Modern High German

MoIA Modern Indo-Aryan

MoIc. Modern Icelandic

MoIr. Modern Irish

MoLG Modern Low German

MoP Modern Persian

MoW Modern Welsh

MP Middle Persian

Mun. Munji

MW Middle Welsh

Myc. Mycenaean

NEIran. Northeast Iranian

NGm. North Germanic

NIA New Indo-Aryan

non-IE Non-IE languages

NPhr. New Phrygian

Nth. Northumbrian

Nur. Nuristani

Nw. Norwegian

NWGk. Northwestern Greek

NWIran. Northwest Iranian

OBr. Old British (i.e. names in Latin sources and inscriptions of the Dark Ages)

OBret. Old Breton

OCo. Old Cornish (Voc. Corn.)

OCS Old Church Slavonic

ODan. Old Danish

OE Old English

OERun. Old English Runic

OFr. Old French

OFri. Old Frisian

OFriRun. Old Frisian Runic

Og. Ogam Irish

OGm. Old Germanic (i.e. personal and placenames in Classical sources)

OGt. Old Gutnish

OHG Old High German

OIA Old Indo-Aryan

OIc. Old Icelandic

OIr. Old Irish

OIran. Old Iranian (names in var. sources)

OLat. Old Latin

OLFra. Old Low Franconian

OLith. Old Lithuanian

ON Old Norse

ONRun. Old Norse Runic

ONw. Old Norwegian

OP Old Persian

OPhr. Old Phrygian

OPr. Old Prussian

Orm. Ormuri

ORu. Old Russian

ORun. Old Runic

OS Old Saxon

Osc. Oscan

Oss. Ossetic

OssD Digor

OssI Iron

OSw. Old Swedish

OSWBr. Old South-West British

OW Old Welsh

P Proto- (can be prefixed to any language)

Pa. Pali

Pael. Paelignian

Paeon. Paeonic

Pahl. Pahlavi

Pal. Palaic

Pam. Pamir

Pann. Pannonian

Par. Parachi

Parth. Parthian

Pash. Pashto (=Afghan)

PFU Proto-Fenno-Ugric

Phr. Phrygian

Pis. Pisidic

Pkt. Prakrit

Plb. Polabian

Pol. Polish

PrIr. Primitive Irish

PRom. Proto-Romance

PSab. (Proto-)Sabellian ( = Osco-Umbrian)

PSamn. Presamnitic

PU Proto-Uralic

qIE quasi-Indo-European

RFra. Rhine Franconian

Rosh. Roshani

Ru. Russian

RuCS Russian Church Slavonic

Rum. Rumanian

Sar. Sarikoli

Sarmat. Sarmatian

Sbn. Sabinian

ScG Scots Gaelic

SCr. Serbo-Croatian

SCS Serbian Church Slavonic

Scyth. Scythian

SEIran. Southeast Iranian

Sel. Selian

Sh. Shughni

Shtok. Shtokavian

Sic. Siculian

Sid. Sidetic

Skt. Sanskrit

Sl. Slavic

Slc. Slovincian

Slk. Slovak

Sln. Slovene

Sogd. Sogdian

Sorb. Sorbian

Sp. Spanish

SPic. South Picenian

SSl. South Slavic

Sum. Sumerian (non-IE)

Sw. Swedish

SwG Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch)

SWIran. Southwest Iranian

Taj. Tajik

Thes. Thessalian

Thrac. Thracian

To. Tocharian

ToA Tocharian A

ToB Tocharian B

Treg. Tregorrois

Ukr. Ukrainian

Umb. Umbrian

USrb. Upper Sorbian

Van. Vannetais

Vand. Vandal

Ved. Vedic

Ven. Venetic

Vest. Vestinian

Vol. Volscan

W Welsh

Wa. Wakhi

WBl. West Baltic

WFra. West Franconian

WGm. West Germanic

WS West-Saxon

WSl. West Slavic

Yagh. Yaghnobi

Yaz. Yazgulami

Yi. Yidgha

Zhem. Zhemaitian