Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kh₂em-

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

Root

*kh₂em-

to bend, to curve
to smooth

Alternative reconstructions

*kam-, *(s)kam-

Reconstruction notes

The presence of short *a in all descendants is difficult to explain (see de Vaan (2008) and Beekes (2010:633) for notes), and the validity of a root structure *CHeC- is not universally accepted. An alternative, though equally tentative, solution is that some or all of the cognate set are derived from a common substrate continuum.[1] Beekes was convinced that the Greek terms point to Pre-Greek or some other European substratum.[2] Compare Ancient Greek σκαμβός (skambós).

Kroonen links Ancient Greek καμπ- (kamp-), Lithuanian kam̃pas and Proto-Germanic *hamfaz with a different root, *kemp- (“to turn, bend”).[3]

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kh₂em-‎ (8 c, 0 e)

*kh₂m-(e)r-
- ⇒? Proto-Hellenic:
  - >? Ancient Greek: κμέλεθρα (kmélethra, “beam”) (but more likely Pre-Greek[4])
- ⇒ Proto-Italic: *kameros
  - Latin: camur (see there for further descendants)
- ⇒ *kh₂m-ér-e-ti
  - Proto-Indo-Iranian: *kmárati
    - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *kmárati
      - Sanskrit: क्मरति (kmárati, “to be curved”)
    - Proto-Iranian: *kamárati
      - ⇒ Proto-Iranian: *kamarā- (“something curved”)[5]
        Avestan: 𐬐𐬀𐬨𐬀𐬭𐬁 (kamarā, “girdle”)
        
        Khwarezmian: [script needed] (kmr, “girdle”)
        
        Middle Persian:
        Book Pahlavi script: [Book Pahlavi needed] (kml /⁠kamar⁠/, “waist; girdle”)
        
        Inscriptional Pahlavi script: 𐭪𐭬𐭫𐭩 (kmly /⁠kamar⁠/, “girdle”)
        
        Manichaean script: 𐫞𐫖𐫡 (qmr /⁠kamar⁠/, “vault”)
        
        Persian: کمر (kamar, “waist; girdle; arch, cupola, dome, arched bridge”) (see there for further descendants)
        
        → Aramaic:
        Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: קמרא (qamrā)
        
        Classical Syriac: ܩܡܪܐ (qamrā)
        
        Classical Mandaic: [script needed] (qamar)
        
        → Persian: کمرا (kamrâ) (reborrowing)
        
        → Arabic: كَمَر (kamar)
        
        → Old Armenian: կամար (kamar, “girdle; arch, vault”)
        
        → Old Georgian: კამარაჲ (ḳamaray)
        Georgian: კამარა (ḳamara)
        → Svan: კამრა̈ჲ (ḳamräy)
        
        → Ancient Greek: καμάρα (kamára, “anything with an arched cover”) (see there for further descendants)
        
        → Ancient Greek: καμαρίς (kamarís, “woman's ornament”)
        
        → Ge'ez: ቀመር (ḳämär)
        
        → Hebrew: קָמַר / קֶמֶר (qemer, qāmar)

*kh₂ém-iH-no-s
- Proto-Hellenic: *kámīnos
  - >? Ancient Greek: κάμῑνος (kámīnos, “furnace”) (or Pre-Greek[6])

Extensions

*kh₂em-dʰ(h₁)-
- ⇒ *kh₂m-dʰ(h₁)-ó-s
  - Proto-Hellenic: *kamtʰós, *kantʰós
    - >? Ancient Greek: κανθός (kanthós, “corner of the eye”) (or Pre-Greek[7])

*kh₂em-p-
- ⇒ *kh₂emp-to-s
  - Proto-Balto-Slavic: *kamptas (“corner”)[8]
    - >? Lithuanian: kam̃pas (or from *kh₂emp-o-s)
    - >? Proto-Slavic: *kǫ̃tъ (or from *kaN-to-, or borrowed?) (see there for further descendants)
  - Proto-Celtic: *kantos (“corner, rim”) (or from *kaN-to-) (see there for further descendants)
  - Proto-Hellenic: *kamptos
    - ⇒? Proto-Hellenic: *kámptō (verb) (or from *km̥p-ye-[3])
      - Ancient Greek: κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend, turn”)
- ⇒ *kh₂emp-o-s
  - >? Proto-Germanic: *hamfaz (“maimed”)[8] (see there for further descendants)
  - >? Proto-Italic: *kampos (“valley?”)[1]
    - Latin: campus (“field”) (see there for further descendants)
- ⇒ *kh₂emp-eh₂
  - Proto-Hellenic: *kampā́, *kámpā
    - Ancient Greek: καμπή (kampḗ, “bend”), κάμπη (kámpē, “caterpillar; a kind of ornament”)
- Unsorted formations:
  - Hellenic:
    - Ancient Greek: καμψός (kampsós)

References

De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “campus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 86
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κάμπτω”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 632–633
Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*hamfa-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 207
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κμέλεθρα”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 720
Edelʹman, D. I. (2011) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume IV, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pages 191–192
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κάμῑνος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 631
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “κανθός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 635
Derksen, Rick (2015) “kampas”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 224