Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/pénkʷe

This Proto-Indo-European entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Indo-European

Etymology

Usually explained as a derivation from the words for “fist” and “finger”:

Proto-Indo-European *pn̥kʷ-sti-s (“fist”) > Proto-Germanic *funhstiz > *funstiz > Proto-West Germanic *fūsti (> Old English fȳst (“fist”), Old Frisian fest (“fist”), Old High German fūst (“fist”)); Proto-Slavic *pę̑stь, Lithuanian kumštis.
Proto-Indo-European *penkʷ-ró-s (“finger”) > Proto-Germanic *fingraz (“finger”) (> Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍂𐍃 (figgrs, “finger”), Old Norse fingr, Old English finger, Old High German finger)

Ultimately all of these forms may go back to a verbal stem *penkʷ- (“to take in hand, to handle”), though such a verb is not attested in any of the daughter languages. In contrast, Blažek (1999: 229) argues that the meanings “fist”, etc. are primary.^[1] A relation to *ponkʷ-to- (“all, whole”) has also been suggested, possibly seen in Latin cūnctus and Hittite 𒉺𒀭𒆪𒍑 (pa-an-ku-uš, “family”), thus *pénkʷe meaning “the whole (hand)”.^[2]

Numeral

**Proto-Indo-European cardinal numbers**
< 4	5	6 >
Cardinal : pénkʷe Ordinal* : *penkʷetós^[3]

*pénkʷe

five
hand (older)

Declension

Uninflected.

Descendants

Proto-Albanian: *penče (see there for further descendants)
Anatolian:
- Luwian: 𒉺𒀭𒋫 (paⁿta)
Armenian:
- Old Armenian: հինգ (hing)
  - Armenian: հինգ (hing)
Proto-Balto-Slavic: *pénki (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Celtic: *kʷenkʷe (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Germanic: *fimf (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Hellenic: *pénkʷe (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Indo-Iranian: *pánča (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Italic: *kʷenkʷe (see there for further descendants)
Messapic: 𐌐𐌄𐌍𐌊𐌀- (penka-)
Phrygian: πινκε (pinke)
Proto-Tocharian: *p'ä́ñćä^[4] (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Franklin E. Horowitz (1992). “On the Proto-Indo-European etymon for ‘hand’.” WORD―Journal of the International Linguistic Association, 43(3), 411-419.
^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
^ Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004, 2010) Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell
^ Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “piś”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 415-416

Blažek, Václav (1999) Numerals: comparative-etymological analyses of numeral systems and their implications (Opera Universitatis Masarykianae Brunensis, Facultas philosophica; 322)‎^[1], Brno: Masarykova Univerzita

[1] Franklin E. Horowitz (1992). “On the Proto-Indo-European etymon for ‘hand’.” WORD―Journal of the International Linguistic Association, 43(3), 411-419.

[Sihler-2] Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

[3] Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004, 2010) Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell

[4] Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “piś”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 415-416

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