Cognate Set 5612 – Meaning: lake

IE-CoR reference form:
lac
IE-CoR reference language:
Middle English
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Proposed as cognate to:
lič [Armenian: Classical] scale: 0
Loan event:
yes
Parallel loan event:
no
Loan source language:
Old French
Loan source lexeme belongs to cognate set:
*lek- [Proto-Indo-European]
Loan notes:
Either a direct borrowing from Old French lac, or a semantic borrowing from Old French lac, reinterpreting inherited material (cf. OE lacu 'small stream of running water' < Proto-Germanic *lak-, cf. OED, EWAhd)
Justification:
The English word for 'lake' might be inherited from Germanic (cf. OHG lacha 'bog, mire'), but if so in the meaning 'lake' it would appear to be a semantic borrowing from Latin lacus (cf. similarly Greek: Italiot λάκκ̔ο in cognate set 8394 which might be a semantic calque based on Italian); the cognate Germanic lexemes are unrelated to Lat. lacus, and probably further connected to PIE ?*le⁽g̑⁾- 'drip' (cf. LIV² 397), otherwise only attested in Celtic (EWA 5:976-978). If from PIE ?*le⁽g̑⁾- 'drip' then possibly to be connected with Armenian lič in cognate set 607.
Found in clades:
Germanic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 1 clade by 1 lexeme.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
110   English lake leɪk
References
  • 84:
    S.v. Engl. lake n. (4). "Early Middle English lac , < Old French lac, < Latin lacus basin, tub, tank, lake, pond; the popular form of the word in Old French was lai . The present English form lake (recorded from the 14th cent.) may be due to confusion with lake n.3, or perhaps rather to independent adoption of Latin lacus."
  • Lühr, Rosemarie and Bichlmeier, Harald and Kozianka, Maria and Schuhmann, Roland: 976-978
    Cf. s.v. OHG lacha 'Sumpf, Morast, Suhle, schlammiges Wasser' from West Germanic *lakō(n). Middle English lāk(e) 'river, stream' (= 'Bach, Flüsschen') and Modern English lake 'river, stream' in archaic and dialectal language use are inherited from Western Germanic (Old English lacu f. 'river, stream'), but in the meaning 'lake' these words are a semantic borrowing from Old French lac 'lake, pit' < Latin lacus m. 'lake'. Contrary to older interpretations, Proto-Germanic *lākō(n)- is not connected to Lat. lacus, since Lat. must continue *-k̑-. The Germanic word is more likely to go back to PIE *le⁽g̑⁾- 'tröpfeln, sickern, zergehen', also attested in the Gmc. adj. *lek-e/a- 'undicht' and in the thematic present *lek-e/a- 'lecken, undicht sein' (> OHG lecken 'bewässern, benetzen'). Outside of Germanic this root is only further attested in Celtic (cf. OIr. lega* < Proto-Celtic *leg-e/o- 'schmelzen, [sich] auflösen', making the reconstruction of the original velar impossible.
  • Rix, Helmut: 397
    Cf. s.v. ?*le⁽g̑⁾- 'tröpfeln' (IEW 657), only Germanic and Celtic.