*pleḱ-

Reconstruction

LIV writes the root *plek̑- "to braid", with a palatal because of late Vedic Sanskrit प्रश्न (praśna-, “turban, headband”).^[1] Beekes, de Vaan and Derksen write *pleḱ-, Kroonen *plek-.^[2][3][4][5] LIV notes that the Slavic present points to *plekt- with a velar, since a palatal would have given a different stem.^[1] Pokorny took the root as an extension of his *pel- "to fold".^[6]

Morphology

LIV sets up a full-grade e-present *plék̑-e- in Ancient Greek πλέκω (plékō, “I braid”); a te-present *plék̑-te- in Latin plectō (“to braid”), Old High German flehtan (“to braid”) and Old Church Slavonic плетѫ (pletǫ, “I braid”), and a sigmatic aorist *plḗk̑/plék̑-s- in Greek and Latin.^[1] Beekes notes that the thematic present of Greek has no parallel elsewhere, where the extended *pleḱ-t- is usual.^[2] Kroonen marks *plék-t-e- as a European formation.^[5]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Greek, Italic, Germanic and Slavic, and the root in nouns of Indo-Aryan and Iranian; there is no Anatolian or Tocharian form in LIV's list.^[1][3]

Meanings

1. to braid^[1]

De Vaan glosses *pleḱ-t-e/o- "to plait, to twine".^[3]

Derivatives

• *ple/oḱ-no-: Sanskrit प्रश्न (praśna-, “turban”), Avestan ərəzatō.frašna- (“having a golden helmet”).^[3]
• Proto-Slavic *plotъ (“fence”), from *ploḱ-t-.^[7]

Reflexes

• Indo-Aryan, after LIV: Sanskrit प्रश्न (praśna-, “turban, headband”).^[1]
• Greek: Ancient Greek πλέκω (plékō, “to braid, to twine”).^[2]
• Italic: Latin plectō (“to plait, to twine”).^[3]
• Germanic: Proto-Germanic *flehtan- (“to braid”), Old English fleohtan (“to braid”), Old High German flehtan (“to braid”).^[5]
• Slavic: Proto-Slavic *plestì (“to plait”), Russian плести (plestí, “to plait”).^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *plek̑-
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. πλέκω
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. plectō
4. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 403
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 146
6. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. s.v. plek^-
7. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 406