Cognate Set 28 – Meaning: egg

IE-CoR reference form:
*h₂ōu̯ió-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Indo-European
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
Hellenic, Armenian, Albanian, Iranic, Slavic, Germanic, Italic, and Celtic lexemes continuing PIE *h₂ōu̯ió- 'egg', which may be a vr̥ddhi-derivative to the Indo-European word for 'bird' *h₂eu̯-i- (EIEC 176, cf. cognate set 856); alternatively Schindler 1969 reconstructs an adpositional construction *ō-h₂uiom 'towards the bird'. For individual branches, cf. Beekes 2010:1681, Martirosyan 2010:439, Orel 1998:497, Holm 2011:60, Abaev 1959–1995 I:41, Bailey 1979:30, ESSJa 1:61-64, Derksen 2008:27, Kroonen 2013:17, de Vaan 2008:438, Matasović 2009:50.
Found in clades:
Albanian, Armenian, Celtic, Germanic, Hellenic, Iranic, Italic, Slavic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 8 clades by 107 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
16   Armenian: Eastern jow ձու dzu dzu
79   Bulgarian âjce яйце jəjˈtsɛ jajˈtse
98   Belarusian âjka яйка ˈjajkɑ̈ ˈjajko An alternative lexeme is 'яйцо', with the same root.
141   Catalan ou ɔw ɔw
93   Czech vejce ˈvɛjtsɛ ˈvejtse
110   Danish æg ˈɛˀɡ
116   Dutch ei ɛi
104   Faroese egg ɛɡː
117   Flemish ei
136   French oeuf œf œf
122   German Ei ˈʔaɪ ˈaɪ
8   Greek: Modern Std aygó αυγό avˈɣo̞ avˈɣo̞
103   Icelandic egg ɛɡ̊ː
161   Gaelic: Irish ubh ˈʊvˠ ˈØˠəvˠ
129   Italian uovo ˈwɔːvo ˈwɔvo
131   Ladin uef ˈue̯f
95   Sorbian: Lower jajo ˈjɑ̈jɔ ˈjajo
94   Sorbian: Upper jejo ˈje.ɔ ˈje.ɔ
80   Macedonian ǰaǰce јајце ˈjɑ̈jtsɛ ˈjajtse
88   Polish jajko ˈjɑ̈jkɔ ˈjajko 'jajko' is a diminutive of 'jajo', but is more common in culinary contexts.
144   Portuguese ovo ˈovu ˈovu
105   Norwegian: Bokmål egg ɛɡː ɛɡː
97   Russian âjco яйцо jɪjˈtsɔ jajˈtso
134   Sardinian: Logudoro ou ˈoː.u ˈoː.u
133   Sardinian: Nuoro óu ˈɔː.uː ˈɔː.uː
83   Serbo-Croat jaje ˈjɑ̈̌ːjɛ ˈjǎːje
91   Slovak vajce ˈvɑ̈jtsɛ ˈvajtse
85   Slovene jajce ˈjɑ̈̀ːjtsɛ ˈjàːjtsɛ
143   Spanish huevo ˈweβo ˈwebo
109   Swedish ägg ɛɡː
99   Ukrainian âjce яйце jajˈtsɛ jajˈtsɛ
137   Walloon oû uː uː
124   Latin ōuum ˈoːwũ ˈoːwum G.sg. ōuī
78   Old Church Slavonic aice аицє ɑjɪ̆tsʲɛ ajɪtse
121   Luxembourgish Ee eː eː
6   Greek: Ancient ō̧ón ᾠόν o̞ːjó̞n o̞ːjó̞n G.sg. ᾠοῦ.
159   Gaelic: Scottish ugh u
130   Friulian ûf ˈuːf ˈuːf Deriv. ovat, ovon.
114   Frisian aai aːj
158   Old Irish og ˈɔɣˠ ˈoɣ
15   Armenian: Classical jow ձու dzu dzu-ɔ-
56   Kurdish N.: Bahdini hēk heːk
18   Albanian: Gheg vo < IE *eh3uiom, cf. Arm jvoj (gen.) and Cze vejce. Orel, however, claims it to be a loan from Latin. Both have same etymological origin, however.
72   Ossetic: Iron ajk айк ɑjk ajk
73   Ossetic: Digor ajkɜ айкӕ ɑjkʰɜ ajkɜ
19   Albanian: Standard ve(zë) -zë is diminutive, but almost stable element of the word in Standard Alb.Gheg shows vo ~ ve, which according to Orel speaks for a borrowing < Latin ovum 'id'.
46   Avestan: Younger aēm 𐬀𐬉𐬨 ai̯m acc. sg. (but nom. sg. would be identical), stem probably āiia-
160   Gaelic: Manx ooh uː uː ubh, ugh
13   Tsakonian: Peloponnese avougó αβουγό avuˈɣo̞ avuˈɣo̞
107   Elfdalian egg ɛɡː ɛɡː
108   Old Swedish äg æɡː æɡː
155   Middle Breton uy, üi, vy, vuy ˈviː, ˈɥiː
49   Khotanese āha ɑːhɐ aːha Stem āhā- f.
7   Greek: New Testament ō̧ón ᾠόν (o̞)ˈo̞n o̞ˈo̞n 1x in Lk 11:12
90   Polabian joji jɔˈji joˈji
89   Kashubian jôjkò ˈjɛ̽jkwɛ ˈjɜjko
66   Middle Persian xāyag xʾyg xɑːˈjaɣ xaːjaɡ ZP hʾd(y)k'
11   Greek: Cypriot afkón αφκόν ɐˈfkɔn ɐˈvɣɔn
14   Tsakonian: Propontis avgoú αβγού aˈvɣu aˈvɣu
10   Greek: Pontic ōvó(n) ωβό(ν) o̞ˈvo̞(n) o̞ˈvo̞(n) also /o̞ˈvɣo̞(n)/
9   Greek: Cappadocian ōv(g)ó ωβ(γ)ό oˈv(ɣ)o oˈv(ɣ)o also /eˈv(ɣ)o/
12   Greek: Italiot aggouó αγγουό aˈɡʷo̞ aˈɣɣo̞ Cal.; /aˈk(v)o̞/ Ap.
125   Romanian ou ow ow
128   Neapolitan uovo ˈwovə ˈwovə
135   Anglo-Norman oef
139   Franco-Provençal oua ˈwa ˈua
142   Old Spanish (h)uevo ˈweβo
156   Breton: Gwened ui ɥi
157   Breton: Treger u (ui) ˈyː ˈyː
151   Welsh: North wy uːɨ uːɨ
87   Old Polish jajce, jejce, jaje, jajko ˈja̠jcɛ, ˈjɛjcɛ, ˈja̠jɛ, ˈjɒːjkɔ ˈjajce, ˈjejce, ˈjaje, ˈjaːjko 'jajko' is a diminutive of 'jajo', but is more common in culinary contexts.
150   Middle Welsh wy uɨ
92   Old Czech vajce ˈβɑ̈jtsɛ ˈvajtse
96   Old Novgorod jaice яице jæjɪˈtsʲɛ jæjɪˈtsɛ
71   Kumzari xāyg χaːjɡ χaːjɡ
100   Rusyn jajcé jæjˈts(ɛ/ɜ) jajˈtse
81   Macedonian: Suho icè iˈtse̞ iˈtse
82   Macedonian: Visoka icè iˈtse̞ iˈtse
86   Slovene: Kostel jajce ˈjɛːijtsɛ ˈjɛːjtsɛ
84   Slovene: Early Modern jeize
123   German: Bernese Ei ɛɪ ɛɪ
69   Delvari χɒg χɒɡ
70   Lari xow χow
57   Kurdish C.: Jafi helka helkæ
64   Balochi: Sistani āmorg ɑmorɡ compound ā-morg with ā for "egg", cf. Korn (2005: 346)
62   Tati karxā kærχa
138   Old Occitan uou
20   Albanian: Arbëresh ve ˈveː
140   Old Catalan ou ɔw ɔw
47   Khwarazmian yāk yʾk i̯aːk previously given "yʾc" is plural
50   Pashto agai اګئ aɡəi aɡəi identified as diminutive of hā by Morgenstierne (2003: 35)
58   Kurdish S.: Elami xā χɒ
60   Hawrami hēła heːlˠæ
126   Megleno-Romanian ou̯
127   Dalmatian: Vegliote juv juv
119   Old High German ei ei̯ ei̯
120   Middle High German ei ei̯ ei̯
111   Old English ǣġ æːj æːj
118   Old Saxon ei ˈe.i ˈe.i
115   Middle Dutch ei ɛi̯ ɛi̯
102   Old Icelandic egg eɡː eɡː
152   Middle Cornish oy oi
153   Late Cornish oi oi pl. oyow [ˈojow]
106   Norwegian: Nynorsk egg ɛɡː ɛɡː
145   Portuguese: Brazilian ovo
132   Milanese öf œf
59   Kurdish S.: Qorveh hilka hilkæ
References
  • Bailey, Harold Walter: 30
    S.v. Khot. āhā- 'egg' < *āvyā- (cf. Av. aēm [Yašt 13.2] 'egg'(?), Oss. D. ajkä, NPers. xāyah, Pašto hā, etc., from the PIE word for 'egg' (Gk. ᾠόν, Welsh wy, Lat. ōuum, ONor. egg, etc.).
  • Beekes, Robert: 1681
    S.v. ᾠόν 'egg' < PIE *h₂ōui-o- 'egg'.
  • Derksen, Rick: 27
    S.v. Proto-Slavic *ajьce 'egg', originally a diminutive of Proto-Slavic *aje 'egg' from PIE *h₂ōui-om (cf. Gk. ᾠόν, Lat. ōvum, OIc. egg, OHG ei, W wy).
  • Holm, Hans J.: 60
    Contra Orel (1998:497), considers the Alb. ve ~ vo inherited. (All other loans from Lat. ō- result in (h)u-.)
  • Kroonen, Guus: 17
    S.v. Proto-Germanic *ajja- 'egg' from PIE *h₂ōu-ió-, generally taken to be formed as a vr̥ddhi-formation to the Indo-European word for 'bird' *h₂éu-is, *h₂u-éi-s. Cf. entry in Kroonen for a relative chronology of the sound changes that led to the Proto-Germanic form.
  • Mallory, James P.: 176
    S.v. EGG *hₐō(u̯)iom 'egg' [[IEW](src-49) 783-784 *ō(u̯)i̯-om)]. Arm. ju 'egg' and OInd. aṇḍa- cannot be derived from this IE proto-form. It is quite possible that the word for 'egg' is a vr̥ddhi-derivative of the IE word for 'bird' *hₐeu̯ei-.
  • Martirosyan, Hrach: 439
    S.v. Arm. ju 'egg', derived from the PIE word for 'egg' (cf. Gk. ᾠόν, Lat. ōvum, Celt. *āwyo- 'egg', OCS aice, etc.), the Armenian form is usually explained from *i̯ō(w)i̯o- with assimilatory addition of *i̯-, but the initial j- remains unclear.
  • Matasović, Ranko: 50
    S.v. Proto-Celtic *āwyo- 'egg', from PIE *h₂ōu-io- 'egg' (cf. Lat. ōuum, Gk. ᾠόν, etc.).
  • Orel, Vladimir: 497
    S.v. Alb. ve ~ vo 'egg', considers the lexeme a loan from Lat. ōvum on the basis of Old Albanian voe (Buzuku, Bardhi) where the correspondence of Tosk va- ~ Gheg vo- is typical of Latin loanwords. [But cf. objections of Holm 2011:60.]
  • Scarborough, Matthew:
    Cf. Western Armenian hawkitʿ as a compound 'bird-produce' [cognate set 6057](cog-6057). Within PIE 'bird' and 'egg' must have been separate lexemes, therefore these classes have been separated.
  • Schindler, Jochem: 144-167
    Derives the IE word for egg from *ō-h₂uiom.
  • Trubačev, O. N.: 1: 61-64
    PS *aje < PIE *ōi̯om. Cf. also PS derivatives *ajĭce and *ajĭko.
  • de Vaan, Michiel: 438
    S.v. Lat. ōvum 'egg', from PIE *h₂ōuiom 'egg', preferring the explanation deriving 'egg' as a vr̥ddhi-derivative of 'bird', hence 'what belongs to a bird', against Schindler (1969), who reconstructs ō-h₂uiom with a preposition *ō, thus 'toward the bird'.