Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/peḱ-

This Proto-Indo-European entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Indo-European

Root

*peḱ-[1]

to pluck (wool, hair)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peḱ- (pluck)

*péḱ-ti
- Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: πέκω (pékō, “to comb”)
*peḱ-te-ti (perhaps by metathesis from *petḱ- < *pe-pḱ- or the same seen in *pléḱ-te-ti)
- Proto-Germanic: *fehtaną (“to comb, detangle, struggle”)
- Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: πεκτέω (pektéō, “to shear”)
- Proto-Italic: *pektō
  - Latin: pectō (“to comb”)
*peḱ-o-
- Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: πέκος (pékos)
*poḱ-o-
- Proto-Germanic: *fahaz (“sheep”)
- Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: πόκος (pókos)
*poḱ-ti-
- Proto-Germanic: *fahtiz (“fleece”)
  - Old English: feht
  - Old Frisian: fecht
  - Middle Dutch: vacht
    - Dutch: vacht
*p(e)ḱ-tén-s
- Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: κτείς (kteís)
- Italic:
  - Latin: pecten
*poḱ-s-om
- Proto-Germanic: *fahsą
*poḱ-s-mn̥
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *páćšma (see there for further descendants)
Unsorted formations:
- Balto-Slavic:
  - Lithuanian: pešù, pèšti (“to pluck, tear (of hair)”), iterative pašýti (“to brawl”)

Root

*peḱ-[2]

Benviste (1969: 47-61) proposed that the primary meaning was "movable property, wealth", with a secondary meaning of "livestock" simply because this was how wealth was measured by the Proto-Indo-Europeans (and many descendant cultures). In corroboration, Kim McCone (1991:43-44) highlights wealth- and/or status-oriented terms such as Old Irish (am)bue, Homeric Greek -boios, and Sanskrit -guh..

wealth
livestock

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peḱ- (livestock)

*peḱ-u
*péḱ-os ~ *péḱ-es-os
- Proto-Hellenic: *pékos
  - Ancient Greek: πέκος (pékos, “fleece, wool”)
- Proto-Italic: *pekos
  - Latin: pecus (“cattle”) (see there for further descendants)

Root

*peḱ-[3]

joyful
pretty

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peḱ- (joyful)

*peḱ- (root present)
- Proto-Germanic: *fehaną (“to rejoice”)
  - Old English: gefēon (“to be glad”), fægen (“glad”, past participle)
    - English: fain
  - Old High German: gifehan (“to be glad”)
  - Old Norse: feginn (past participle)
    - Icelandic: feginn
    - Faroese: fegin
    - Norwegian: fegen
*poḱ-éye- (causative)
- Proto-Germanic: *fagjaną (“to please”)
  - Gothic: *𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (*fahjan) (in 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐌻𐌰𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fullafahjan))
Unsorted formations:
- Balto-Slavic:
  - Lithuanian: púošiu (“adorn”)
- Celtic:
  - Middle Irish: perhaps āil (“pleasant”)
- Germanic:
  - Old Norse: fága (“adorn, polish”)
  - Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌴𐌸𐍃 (fahēþs, “joy”)

References

De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “pectō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “pecū”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

[DV_pecto-1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “pectō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

[DV_pecu-2] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “pecū”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

[3] Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN