Cognate Set 2456 – Meaning: knee

IE-CoR reference form:
*g̑enu-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Indo-European
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
Anatolian, Tocharian, Hellenic, Armenian, Albanian, Indo-Iranic, Germanic, Italic, and Celtic lexemes derived from PIE *g̑enu, *g̑neu- (IEW 381-382, cf. Kloekhorst 2008:467-468, Hilmarsson 1996:129-130, Adams 2013:205-206, Beekes 2010:283, Martirosyan 2010:343-344, Demiraj 1997:190-191, Orel 1998:137, EWAia: I:584-585, Kroonen 2013:296, de Vaan 2008:259, Matasović 2009:162). NB: traditionally considered a separate lexical root from PIE 2. *g̑enu- 'jaw, chin' (cf. IEW 380-382).
Found in clades:
Albanian, Anatolian, Armenian, Celtic, Germanic, Hellenic, Indic, Iranic, Italic, Nuristani, Tocharian
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 11 clades by 96 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
1   Hittite gēnu ge-e-nu
124   Latin genu ˈɡenu ˈɡenu gen. genūs
6   Greek: Ancient góny γόνυ ɡó̞ny ɡó̞ny G.sg. γόνατος.
21   Vedic: Early jā́nu जानु ˈdʑaːnu dʑáːnu
159   Gaelic: Scottish glùn ɡl̪ˠuːn
129   Italian ginocchio dʒiˈnɔkkjo dʒiˈnɔkkjo
136   French genou ʒənu ʒənu
161   Gaelic: Irish glúin ˈɡʷlʷuːnʲ ˈɡˠlˠuːnʲ
110   Danish knæ ˈknɛˀ
109   Swedish knä knɛː
121   Luxembourgish Knéi knɜɪ knɜɪ
112   English knee niː Old English cnēo
116   Dutch knie kni
122   German Knie ˈkʰniː ˈkniː
3   Tocharian A kanweṃ kənwẽ kənwe-n Duale tantum.
4   Tocharian B keni keˈni, keˈnine keˈnəjə, keˈnəjne Attested only in dual; extended form with productive du. ending -ne attested in IOL Toch 210 b3 and adj. kenine-ṣṣe ‘pertaining to the knees’ (cf. Toch. A kanweṃ).
18   Albanian: Gheg gjũ Goes back to PAlb *gluna dissimilated from *g(a)nuna, which is a derivative based on IE *genu- 'knee'.
16   Armenian: Eastern cownk ծունկ tsuŋk tsunk Removed cunr.
141   Catalan genoll ʒəˈnoʎ ʒəˈnoʎ
158   Old Irish glún ˈɡˠlˠuːnˠ ˈɡluːn
46   Avestan: Younger žnu 𐬲𐬥𐬎 ʒnu Acc. sg. znūm, abl.pl. žnubiias-;further attested stems: xšnu and šnu
15   Armenian: Classical cownr ծունր ˈtsunəɾ tsun-u/ɾ- Indeclinable in the singular.
19   Albanian: Standard gju nom.def. gjuri.
130   Friulian zenoli dʒeˈnoli dʒeˈnoli Deriv. zenoglon.
160   Gaelic: Manx glioon ɡlʲuːnʲ ɡlʲuːnʲ glúin
107   Elfdalian kni knɪː knɪː
8   Greek: Modern Std gónato γόνατο ˈɣo̞nato̞ ˈɣo̞nato̞
104   Faroese knæ knɛaː
103   Icelandic kné, hné kʰnjɛː, n̥jɛː
108   Old Swedish knä knæː knæː
105   Norwegian: Bokmål kne kneː kneː
22   Pali jānu jānu dʑaːnʊ dʑaːnu
155   Middle Breton glin ˈɡliːn Frequently compounded with daou 'two', an daoulin, douglyn 'the two knees (of a person)'.
49   Khotanese ysānū zɑːnuː zaːnuː
7   Greek: New Testament góny γόνυ ˈɣo̞ny ˈɣo̞ny
66   Middle Persian išnūg ʿšnwg iˈʃnuːɣ ʃnuːɡ ZP šnwk (beside zʾnwk')
55   Parthian zānūg zʾnwg zaːnuːɡ zaːnuːɡ
11   Greek: Cypriot gónaton γόνατον ˈɣɔnɐtɔn ˈɣɔnɐtɔn
13   Tsakonian: Peloponnese goúna γούνα ˈɣuna ˈɣuna /ˈɣo̞nate̞/ NPT
14   Tsakonian: Propontis gónate γόνατε ˈɣo̞nate̞ ˈɣo̞nate̞
53   Yaghnobi zɵ̄nk ˈzuːŋk
10   Greek: Pontic gónato(n) γόνατο(ν) ˈɣo̞nato̞(n) ˈɣo̞nato̞(n)
17   Armenian: Western cownk ծունկ dzuŋɡ dzunɡ
9   Greek: Cappadocian gónato γόνατο ˈɣonato ˈɣonato
12   Greek: Italiot gónato γόνατο ˈɣo̞nato̞ ˈɣo̞nato̞ Cal.; /ˈko̞nato̞/ Ap.
117   Flemish knie
135   Anglo-Norman genuil
125   Romanian genunchiu dʒeˈnunkç dʒeˈnunkʲ
128   Neapolitan renucchio rəˈnukkjə rəˈnukkjə
144   Portuguese joelho ˈʒweʎu ˈʒweʎu
137   Walloon gngno ɲɲɔ ɲɲɔ
131   Ladin jenedl ʒəˈnedl
133   Sardinian: Nuoro jenucu ʝeˈnuːɣu dʒeˈnuːɣu
134   Sardinian: Logudoro benúiu bɛˈnuː.inu bɛˈnuː.inu
157   Breton: Treger glin ˈɡlĩn, ˈpe̞nː är ˈɡlĩn, ˈpe̞nːo n ˈdəulĩn ˈɡlĩn, ˈpenː är ˈɡlĩn, ˈpenːo n ˈdəulĩn (penn ar glin sg, pennoù an daoulin du)
156   Breton: Gwened glin, dëwlin ɡlĩːn, dəɥliːn glin is singular, dëwlin dual
151   Welsh: North pen-glin pɛŋˌɡliːn penˌɡliːn
139   Franco-Provençal zhno ðˈnɔ ðˈnɔ
150   Middle Welsh glin ɡlin
23   Sinhalese daṇahisa දණහිස
114   Frisian knibbel ˈknɪbəl
54   Bactrian zaggo ζαγγο zaŋɡ only in the compound σπαδο-ζαγγο "on bended knee"
123   German: Bernese Chnöi xnœɪ xnœɪ
62   Tati zonem zonem
48   Sogdian zānuk zʾnwq zaːnuk
63   Mazanderani zānu zɒnu
64   Balochi: Sistani zān zɑn
57   Kurdish C.: Jafi ažno æʒno
138   Old Occitan ginoulh also: genolho
20   Albanian: Arbëresh gluri ˈɡluːɾi
47   Khwarazmian zānūk zʾnwk zaːnuːk
140   Old Catalan genoll ʒəˈnoʎ ʒəˈnoʎ
50   Pashto zangoon زنګون zan.ɡuːn zanɡuːn
60   Hawrami zangołī zænɡolˠi
61   Raji: Barzoki zạnü za̠ˁnʉ za̠ˁnʉ
142   Old Spanish finojo fiˈnoʒo
126   Megleno-Romanian zănúcľu
127   Dalmatian: Vegliote denakle deˈnakle Plural form.
119   Old High German knio knio̯ knio̯
52   Sarikoli zun zun
113   Old Frisian knī kniː kniː
120   Middle High German knie kniə̯ kniə̯
111   Old English cnēo kneːo̯ kneːo̯
118   Old Saxon knio knio̯ knio̯
115   Middle Dutch cnie kniə̯ kniə̯
102   Old Icelandic kné kneː kneː
101   Gothic kniu 𐌺𐌽𐌹𐌿 kniw kniw
152   Middle Cornish glyn ɡliːn dual. dewlyn,dowlyn [ˈdewlin, ˈdowlin]
153   Late Cornish pedn glîn peᵈn ɡliːn dual pedndowlin [ˈpeᵈn ˈdowlin]
106   Norwegian: Nynorsk kne knɛː knɛː
145   Portuguese: Brazilian joelho
132   Milanese ginöc dʒiˈnœtʃ
40   Kamviri ź′õ dzˈõ̞ dzˈõ̞
41   Kâta-vari: Eastern z′õ zõ zˈõ̞ zˈõ̞
42   Kâta-vari: Ktivi z′ũ zˈũ zˈũ
59   Kurdish S.: Qorveh wɨžɨn wɨʒɨn
References
  • Adams, Douglas Q.: 205-206
    S.v. keni* 'knees' (du.). The TochA dual kanweṃ and TochB keni reflect Proto-Tocharian *kenwäi vel sim. Proto-Tocharian *kenw- is certainly from PIE *g̑onu- 'knee'.
  • Beekes, Robert: 283
    S.v. γόνυ 'knee' < PIE *g̑enu, *g̑onu 'knee' (cf. Skt. jā́nu, Av. zānu-, Hitt. genu, Lat. genū, TochA kanwe-ṃ, TochB kenī-ne 'knees', Arm. cun-r, Goth. kniu, etc.).
  • Corominas, Joan and Pascual, José A.: III:366-367
    For Old Spanish finojo, cf. s.v. Sp. hinojo (II) 'rodilla' < Lat. genuculum, diminutive to Lat. genu 'knee'.
  • Demiraj, Bardhyl: 190-191
    S.v. Alb. gju, -ri, gjû, -ni 'Knie', from the IE inherited word for 'knee' *g̑onu-, *g̑nu-.
  • Hilmarsson, Jörundur: 129-130
    S.v. B keni, A kanweṃ 'two knees' CT *kænw- reflects PIE *g̑onu̯- (cf. Gk. γόνυ 'knee', Skt. jā́nu 'id.').
  • Kloekhorst, Alwin: 467-468
    S.v. Hitt. genu- / ganu- 'knee'. The Hittite forms appear to reflect a paradigm nom.sg. *g̑én-u, gen.sg. *g̑n-éu̯-s.
  • Kroonen, Guus: 296
    S.v. Proto-Germanic *knewa- 'knee', from a thematised zero-grade stem *g̑n-eu-o-.
  • Martirosyan, Hrach: 343-344
    S.v. Arm. cung-kʻ, cunr, cungn 'knee', connected with other IE words for 'knee' (Gk. γόνυ, Skt. jā́nu-, Lat. genū, etc.). The Armenian stem *cung- probably reflects an IE dual neuter *g̑onu-ih₁.
  • Matasović, Ranko: 162
    S.v. Proto-Celtic *glūnos- 'knee', ultimately from PIE *g̑onu- 'knee'. The precise derivation of the stem that resulted in Proto-Celtic *gnūnos- is not fully understood, but the etymology ultimately to other IE words for 'knee' is undisputed. On the dissimilation of initial *gn- > *gl- cf. the same sound change which also occurred independently in Albanian.
  • Mayrhofer, Manfred: I:584-585
    S.v. Ved. jā́nu- 'Knie', from PIE *g̑ónu- / *g̑nu-. In Iranic cf. YAv. zānu-, žnūm (acc.sg.), Khot. ysānū-, Parth. z'nwg, MPers. zānūg, šnūg, NPers. zānū 'Knie', etc.
  • Orel, Vladimir: 137
    S.v. gju ~ gjû 'knee', from Proto-Albanian *gluna dissimilated from *g(a)nuna, which in turn is a secondary n-stem derivative based on PIE *g̑enu- 'knee'.
  • Pokorny, Julius: 381-382
    S.v. *g̑enu, *g̑neu- 'Knie'.
  • de Vaan, Michiel: 259
    S.v. Lat. genu, -ūs 'knee', from PIE *g̑en-u(-h₁ dual), *g̑en-u- (obl.).