perna Latin · revision 8131

16 Oct 2026, 15:23 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Naevius|origins=ine-pro *tspērsn-h₂-}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɛr.na]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛr.na]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''perna''' ''f'' (genitive pernae); first declension^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*persnā]], [[inh|ine-pro|*tspērsn-h₂-|t=heel]]; in Latin the word for the heel shifted to the haunch and upper leg.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Lubotsky connects it with a root meaning “to kick with the heel”, as in [[spernō]], the first /s/ being lost by dissimilation; the word may go back to a compound of “foot” and “to beat, kick”.^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[sa|पार्ष्णि|tr=pā́rṣṇi|t=heel]], [[grc|πτέρνη|tr=ptérnē|t=heel]], [[got|𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌽𐌰|tr=fairzna|t=heel]] and [[hit|paršna-]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ De Vaan's first attestation is Naevius, whom Köbler dates c. 235–200 BC; the OLD's earliest citation, from Naevius, is of a ham.^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant the leg, especially the thigh, as in Ennius, who tells of soldiers' hamstrings being cut, and in Naevius a leg of pork, a ham, as in Horace.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) In Pliny the Elder it meant the thick base of a shoot or sucker, and a sea mussel shaped like a ham.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ British Medieval Latin used it for the leg and for a ham as a joint of meat.^(DMLBS) It survives in Spanish ''pierna'' and Portuguese ''perna'' “leg”.^(Wiktionary) Etymonline gives as one possible origin of [[en|pearl]] a Vulgar Latin diminutive ⟨*pernula⟩, since ''perna'' meant “sea mussel” and later in Sicily “pearl”.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it of a ham.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of the thigh.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a sea mussel.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # The leg, especially the [[m|en|thigh]].^(OLD 2012)
+ # A [[m|en|ham]], gammon.^(OLD 2012)
+ # The thick base of a shoot.^(OLD 2012)
+ # A sea [[m|en|mussel]].^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[compernis]]
+ * [[pernārius]]
+ * [[perniger]]
+ * [[pernunculus]]
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[spernō]]
+ * [[pernīx]]
+ * [[en|pearl]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}