Cognate Set 338 – Meaning: white

IE-CoR reference form:
*k̑u̯ei̯t-
IE-CoR reference language:
Proto-Indo-European
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
Indo-Iranic and Germanic lexemes derived from PIE *k̑u̯eit- 'to shine brightly' EWAia II:679-680, Heidermanns 1993:316-317, Kroonen 2013:267, cf. LIV² 340). The Germanic forms irregularly reflect final *-t-, but this is generally explained by a secondary gemination *-tn- > -tt- or secondary influence from Gmc. *swart- (< IE *su̯ord-o-, cf. cognate set 188), cf. Kluge 2011:980.
Found in clades:
Germanic, Indic, Iranic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 3 clades by 40 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
110   Danish hvid viðˀ
116   Dutch wit wɪt
112   English white waɪt
104   Faroese hvítur ˈkʰvʊiːtʰʊɹ
117   Flemish wit
114   Frisian wyt vit
122   German weiß ˈvaɪs ˈvaɪs
103   Icelandic hvítur ˈxʷiːtʰʏr, ˈkʰviːtʰʏr Replaced HVITR.
31   Nepali seto सेतो set̪o
105   Norwegian: Bokmål hvit ʋiːt ʋiːt
109   Swedish vit viːt
56   Kurdish N.: Bahdini spi spi
21   Vedic: Early śvetá- श्वेत- ɕʋɐjˈtɐ- ɕvaitá- '(warm) white'
121   Luxembourgish wäiss væːɪs væːɪs
46   Avestan: Younger spaēta 𐬯𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬀 spai̯ta
107   Elfdalian wait wɑɪt wɑɪt
108   Old Swedish hviter ˈhwiːter hwiːter
49   Khotanese śśītä ʃʲiːðə ʃiːðə
55   Parthian ispēd ʿspyd ɪˈspeːd speːd
123   German: Bernese wyys ʋ̥iːss ʋ̥iːss
62   Tati isbi isbi
48   Sogdian spētē spyty speːteː
63   Mazanderani espe espe
64   Balochi: Sistani spēt speːt
61   Raji: Barzoki esbid ʔesbid̪ esbid̪
71   Kumzari spēr speːɻ speːɻ if Kumzari really is close to Persian, then this word is a loanword
38   Khowar išperu اشپیرو iɕˈpɛɾʊ iɕpɛ́ɾu
47   Khwarazmian spēdik spydyk speːdik
50   Pashto speen سپين spiːn spiːn
32   Punjabi ciṭṭā ਚਿੱਟਾ
119   Old High German uuīz wiːs̻ wiːs̻
52   Sarikoli speyd spejd Morgenstierne (1974: 74) is undecided whether it is a loanword or not
113   Old Frisian hwīt ʍiːt hwiːt
120   Middle High German wîz wiːs̻ wiːs̻
111   Old English hwīt ʍiːt hwiːt
118   Old Saxon huuît ʍiːt hwiːt
115   Middle Dutch wit wit wit
102   Old Icelandic hvítr ʍiːtr hwiːtr
101   Gothic ƕeits 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐍄𐍃 ʍiːts hwiːts
106   Norwegian: Nynorsk kvit kʋiːt kʋiːt
References
  • Heidermanns, Frank: 316-317
    S.v. Gmc. *hʷeita- 'weiß', in the pre-Germanic form *k̑u̯ei̯d- without clear comparisons, but with IE *-t- cf. Ved. śvetá-, Av. spaēta- 'weiß', Ved. śvítna- 'weißlich', śvitrá- 'weiß, weißlich'; the verbal basis in Ved. śvit- 'hell, weiß sein', Lith. šviẽsti, OCS svьtěti 'leuchten, scheinen'.
  • Kluge, Friedrich: 980
    S.v. NHG weiß (MHG wīz, OHG (h)wīz, OS hwīt), from Gmc. *hweita- 'weiß', also in Goth. ƕeits, ON hvítr, OFr. hwīt, as a variant in final position corresponds to IE *kʷei̯t- 'glänzen, hell sein, weiß sein' in Ved. śvit-, Lith. šviẽsti, OCS svĭtěti. The Germanic final *-t- can be explained as either due to the influence of the geminate *-tt- in OFr. hwitt. MLG wit(t), MDu. wit(t)e < an n-assimilation (cf. Ved. śvítna- 'hell, licht', although the attestation of this geminate is late. Also considerable is secondary influence from the Auslaut of Gmc. *swart- 'black' (cf. NHG schwarz).
  • Kroonen, Guus: 267
    S.v. Proto-Germanic *hwīta- ~ *kwitta- 'white', from PIE *k̑u(e)it-nó- (cf. Skt. śvítna- 'white, whitish' < k̑uit-no-; Skt. śvetá- 'white, bright', YAv. spaēta-, MPers. spēd, NPers. sapēd 'white' < *k̑uoit-o-).
  • Mayrhofer, Manfred: II:679-680
    S.v. Ved. svetá- 'weiß, hell' (cf. YAv. spaēta- 'white', OPers. *sai̯ta-), from PIE *k̑u̯ei̯tó- (cf. OCS světъ 'φῶς', Germ. xu̯ei̯ta- 'weiß' in Goth. ƕeits, ONor. hvítr, OHG (h)wīz, etc.). Based on the verbal root *k̑u̯ei̯t- (cf. Lith. švintù, švìsti 'hell werden, aufleuchten', OCS svьtěti (sę) 'leuchten, scheinen').
  • Rix, Helmut: 340
    Cf. s.v. *k̑u̯ei̯t- 'hell aufleuchten' (IEW 628-629).