*lewH-

Reconstruction

LIV writes the root *leu̯H- 'to cut off, to loosen', and Kölligan's lexicon chapter in HCHIEL lists it under 'cut off, loosen'.^[1][2] Matasović writes *lewH-,^[3] Kroonen *leuH-,^[4] and Rasmussen *leuh-, a root ending in a laryngeal, as Sanskrit लुनाति (lunā́ti, “severs”) shows.^[5] Beekes takes the laryngeal from the long vowel of Latin solūtus (“loosened”), Sanskrit लून (lūná, “cut off”) and Ancient Greek βουλυτός (boulutós, “evening”).^[6]

Pokorny's root *leu- 'dirt, to soil', with Ancient Greek λῦμα (lûma, “dirt”), is a different root.^[7] Matasović also sets up a separate *lewH- 'louse', with Germanic forms from *luHs-.^[3] The root of Latin lavō (“to wash”), which Schrijver writes *leuH-, *louH-, is another root again.^[8]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs a root aorist *léu̯H-/luH-, continued in Ancient Greek λύτο (lúto, “loosened”), Latin lūī (“paid”) and Tocharian B lyuwa (“sent”).^[1] Its presents are a nasal-infix present *lu-né/n-H-, in Sanskrit लुनाति (lunā́ti, “cuts off”), a zero-grade present *luH-é-, in the presents of the same Greek and Latin verbs, and, doubtfully, an acrodynamic root present for Tocharian B lyewetär (“sends”).^[1] A perfect ?*le-lóu̯H/luH- and an s-desiderative ?*léu̯H/luH-s- are queried, the latter for Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (fraliusan, “to lose”).^[1] Kümmel's Addenda add Old Irish as·loí (“flees, escapes”) to the present *luH-é- and its subjunctive to the desiderative, and put the Russian verb for 'to let fly' with the nasal present, where LIV had listed it as a Russian innovation.^[9] De Vaan gives an aorist *l(é)uH- 'to cut loose' and, with a query, a perfect *louH-.^[10]

Evidence

The root is attested in Greek, Italic, Indo-Aryan, Tocharian, Germanic, Celtic and Baltic.^[1][3][11] In Anatolian, Melchert derived Hittite lūēššar (“pieces of wood burnt as incense”) from it, and Kloekhorst calls Puhvel's alternative implausible.^[12] Eichner's *luH-tó- for Hittite luttāi-, though widely followed, does not convince Kloekhorst.^[13]

Competing analyses

Beekes sets up *lh₁u- instead, because of the short root vowel of Ancient Greek λύτο (lúto) and Ancient Greek λύσις (lúsis), and suggests a u-present *leh₁-u-.^[6] He sees support in the accent of Lithuanian liáuti (“to stop”) and in Proto-Slavic *lěviti (“to diminish”).^[6] He also notes that the Sanskrit nasal presents are found nowhere else.^[6] LIV explains the short vowel of the Homeric aorist as taken over from the present stem, from *luHé-.^[1]

Meanings

1. to cut off, to loosen,^[1][2] to set free^[3]

The branches narrowed the sense in different ways: Latin luō means 'to pay, to make amends', the Tocharian verb 'to send', Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (fraliusan) 'to lose', and Old Irish as·loí 'to flee'.^[10][1][3] LIV suggests that the Gothic sense came from a middle 'to free oneself from'.^[1]

Derivatives

• *louH-éh₂, in Old Norse lǫgg (“groove in the staves of a cask”).^[4]
• *luH-tó-, in Latin solūtus (“loosened”), and *luH-nó-, in Sanskrit लून (lūná, “cut off”).^[5]
• *lus-ti-, in Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌿𐍃𐍄𐍃 (fralusts, “loss”).^[6]

Reflexes

• Greek: Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen, to free”).^[6]
• Italic: Latin luō (“to suffer, to make amends for”), Latin solvō (“to loosen”).^[10][14]
• Indo-Aryan: Sanskrit लुनाति (lunā́ti, “cuts, cuts off”).^[15]
• Germanic: Old Norse lǫgg (“groove”), and, per LIV, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (fraliusan, “to lose”).^[4][1]
• Celtic: Old Irish as·loí (“flees”).^[3]
• Baltic: Lithuanian liáutis (“to stop, to cease”).^[11]
• Tocharian: Tocharian B lyuwa (“sent”), Tocharian A lyu (“sent”), per LIV.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *leu̯H-
2. ^ a b Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias, eds. (2017–2018), Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics, 3 vols (HSK 41), Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, p. p. 2249
3. ^ a b c d e f Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 258
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 330
5. ^ a b Rasmussen, Jens Elmegård (1999), Selected Papers on Indo-European Linguistics, 2 parts, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. λύω
7. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. s.v. leu-1
8. ^ Schrijver, Peter (1991), The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 396
9. ^ Kümmel, Martin Joachim, Addenda und Corrigenda zu LIV², online document, last change 16 June 2026, p. 62
10. ^ a b c 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. luō
11. ^ a b Smoczyński, Wojciech (2018), Lithuanian Etymological Dictionary, Berlin: Peter Lang, p. 964
12. ^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 530
13. ^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 534
14. ^ 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. solvō
15. ^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1956–1980), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindischen, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 106