*pel-

*pel-¹ to flare up

Reconstruction

LIV sets up ?*pel- "to flare up" with a query: it is only Slavic, an aniṭ root, as LIV infers from Russian по́ломя (pólomja, “flame”).^[9] Derksen reconstructs *pōlh₁- for the Slavic causative, because of its accent paradigm, and *polh₁- for the verb "to burn"; for the noun "flame" he prefers *pòlmy to LIV's evidence from Russian.^[10][11]

Morphology

LIV sets up a perfect *pe-pól/pl- behind Old Church Slavonic полѣти (polěti, “to burn, to blaze”), remade like the verb for "to burn", a causative ?*pṓl-i̯e- in Old Church Slavonic палити (paliti, “to set alight”), and, as an innovation, a nasal present in Old Church Slavonic въспланѫти (vŭsplanǫti, “to flare up”).^[9]

Evidence

LIV's verb is only Slavic, and Derksen adds Baltic nouns for "ashes".^[9][12]

Meanings

1. to flare up^[9]

Reflexes

• Slavic: Old Church Slavonic полѣти (polěti, “to burn”), Old Church Slavonic палити (paliti, “to burn, to singe”).^[11][10]
• Baltic: Lithuanian pelenaĩ (“ashes”).^[13]

*pel-² to strike

Reconstruction

Kümmel adds 2.*pel- "to strike", with a query.^[14] It is attested only in Italic and Germanic, and the simple root is presupposed by the Latin perfect and by *polto- in Latin pultō (“to knock”).^[14] With Weiss, and against LIV and Meiser, he separates Latin pellō from *pelh₂- "to approach", because "to strike" is not otherwise found with that root and because the participle Latin pulsus is hard to explain by analogy.^[14]

Morphology

Kümmel gives a present ?*pél-de- in Latin pellō (“to strike”) and an Old High German verb "strikes".^[14] A root Proto-Germanic *felt- was abstracted in Germanic, and the Latin perfect is an Italic innovation.^[14]

Evidence

Only Italic and Germanic attest it.^[14]

Competing analyses

De Vaan derives the Latin verb from the nasal present *pl-n(e)-h₂- of the root "to approach", through a shift from "to bring closer" to "to push, to impel".^[15] Orel connects Albanian pjell (“to beget, to bear”) with the Latin verb.^[16]

Meanings

1. to strike^[14]

Reflexes

• Italic: Latin pellō (“to strike”).^[14][15]

*pel-³ to bring forth

Reconstruction

Kümmel adds 3.*pel- "to bring forth", with a query, after Schumacher and Matzinger.^[14] The verb is only Albanian.^[14] He adds Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos, “foal”), Old High German folo (“foal”) (unless these go with a word for "young, child") and Lithuanian pel̃nas (“gain, yield”), and perhaps an Iranian verb "to promise to pay" with nouns for "debts".^[14] That Iranian material was LIV's 2.*per- "to equalize", which Kümmel therefore deletes.^[17]

Morphology

Kümmel sets up a present ?*pél-e- in Albanian pjell (“begets, bears”) and Albanian mbjell (“sows, plants”), with an Albanian aorist as an innovation.^[14]

Evidence

The verb is only Albanian, and the nouns in Greek, Germanic and Baltic are the other evidence.^[14]

Competing analyses

Beekes derives Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos) from *pōlH- and the Germanic word for "foal" from the zero grade *plH-, with a laryngeal that Kümmel's root lacks.^[18][14] Beekes puts the Balto-Slavic *pel-no- "gain" with Ancient Greek πωλέω (pōléō, “to sell”) instead.^[19]

Meanings

1. to bring forth^[14]

Reflexes

• Albanian: Albanian pjell (“to beget, to produce, to bear”).^[16]
• Greek: Ancient Greek πῶλος (pôlos, “foal”).^[18]