Word Family - Five

Introduction

I've been doing Word Families for 5 years! In that time, I have made 150 families! So this week is *pénkʷe: "five".

The *p-kʷ sequence in *pénkʷe leads to a set highly divergent forms. *kʷ is a highly variable sound on its own, becoming /kw/, /w/, /ʍ/, /k/, /t͡ʃ/, /s/, /p/, or /t/ in various descendants; in many cases with multiple branches arriving at the same sound independently at different times.

On top of that, the *p-kʷ assimilates in Germanic (progressively), Celtic, and Italic (both regressively). The regressive assimilation *p-kʷ to *kʷ-kʷ is a regular change also seen in Celtic and Italic descendants of *pekʷ-: "to cook" and *pérkʷu-s: "oak". (The Germanic assimilation is not consistent; *pérkʷu-s becomes *ferhuz with no assimilation.)

This is complicated by the fact that some branches in both Celtic and Italic change *kʷ to /p/ (a merger in Italic, but following deletion of *p in Celtic). And then, Vulgar Latin changed its mind about the assimilation and regressively dissimilates to /k-kʷ/. That then allows palatalization on the /k/ leading to /t͡ʃ/ (and later /ts/, /ʃ/, or /s/ in various descendants).

Some of these specifics are discussed in more detail in the footnotes.

I've included another root, Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ-: "to punch, to fist-fight". This is not so much to claim the roots are related, as that they are close enough in both sound and meaning that there are words that can't be assigned clearly to one or the other; particularly West Germanic *fūsti: "fist". The similarity also does allow for them to be potentially related, possibly with *penkʷ- coming from a re-analysis of a nasal infix form *pewǵ-, such as the one attested in Latin pungō.

Finally, as I've said before, there are reason to believe that many of the Proto-Indo-European numbers numbers are relatively recent, with only the numbers 1-3 being clearly established in Archaic PIE/Indo-Anatolian. The numbers 5-10 all have reasonably likely derivations, either as borrowings or as morphological derivations from other PIE words.

Teaser

finger, five, punch, Ponzi scheme, Pentecost, poignant, punch, point, punctuate, pygmy, pugnacious

Full Text

Proto-Indo-European *penkʷ- fist?, hand?, to hold in hand?
- Proto-Indo-European *pn̥kʷstis
  - Proto-Indo-European *pn̥stis variant with simplification
    
    Balto-Slavic
    
    Slavic *pę̑stь
    
    East Slavic
    
    Russian пясть pjastʹ
    
    Russian запястье zapjastʹje wrist
    
    South Slavic
    
    Serbo-Croatian пест pest fist regional
    
    Serbo-Croatian песница pesnica fist regional
    
    West Slavic
    
    Polish pięść fist
    
    Germanic *funstiz ^[1]
    
    West Germanic *fūsti a fist
    
    Old English fȳst a fist
    
    English fist
    
    Frankish *fūst
    
    Dutch vuist a fist
    
    Old High German fūst
    
    German Faust a fist ^[2]
    
    English Faust
    
    Yiddish פֿויסט foyst a fist
  - Proto-Indo-European *kʷn̥stis variant with metathesis and simplification
    
    Balto-Slavic
    
    Baltic
    
    East Baltic
    
    Lithuanian kumštis a fist
    
    West Baltic
    
    Old Prussian kuntis a fist
- Proto-Indo-European *penkʷrós
  - Germanic *fingraz finger ^[1]
    
    East Germanic
    
    Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌲𐌲𐍂𐍃 figgrs finger
    
    North Germanic
    
    Old Norse fingr finger
    
    Danish finger finger
    
    Icelandic fingur finger
    
    West Germanic *fingr finger
    
    Old English finger finger
    
    English finger
    
    Frankish *fingar
    
    Dutch vinger finger
    
    Old High German fingar
    
    German Finger finger
    
    Yiddish פֿינגער finger finger, toe
- Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe five
  - Pre-Albanian *penče
    
    Albanian pesë five
  - Old Armenian հինգ hing five
    
    Armenian հինգ hing five
  - Balto-Slavic *pénkti five
    
    East Baltic
    
    Lithuanian penki five
    
    Slavic *pętь five
    
    East Slavic
    
    Russian пять pjatʹ five
    
    South Slavic
    
    Old Church Slavonic пѧть pętĭ five
    
    Serbo-Croatian пет pet five
    
    West Slavic
    
    Polish pięć five
    
    West Baltic
    
    Old Prussian *pentʲ five
    
    Old Prussian pentninx Friday likely literally "fifth"
    
    Sudovian pank five
  - Pre-Germanic *pémpe
    
    Germanic *fimf five
    
    East Germanic
    
    Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆 fimf five
    
    Crimean Gothic fyuf five
    
    North Germanic
    
    Old Norse fimm five
    
    Danish fem five
    
    Icelandic fimm five
    
    West Germanic *fimf
    
    Old English fīf five
    
    English five
    
    Frankish *finf
    
    Dutch vijf five
    
    Old High German
    
    German fünf five
    
    Yiddish פֿינף finf five
    
    Germanic *fimf-tigiwiz five group-of-tens, fifty
  - Hellenic *pénkʷe
    
    Aeolic Greek πέμπε pémpe five
    
    Classical Greek πέντε pénte five
    
    Greek πέντε pénte five
    
    English penta-
    
    Classical Greek πεντάγωνος pentágōnos five-angled, pentagonal, pentagon
    
    Classical Greek πεντάγωνον pentágōnon pentagon
    
    Latin pentagōnum pentagon
    
    English pentagon
    
    English Pentagon
  - Indo-Iranian *pánča
    
    Indo-Aryan *pánća
    
    Mitanni Aryan *panća
    
    Mitanni Aryan *panća-vartana for five laps Kikkuli
    
    Hurrian
    
    Hittite pa-an-za-wa-ar-ta-an-na for five laps Kikkuli
    
    Sanskrit 𑀧𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀦𑁆 páñcan five
    
    Elu
    
    Dhivehi ފަހެއް fahek five
    
    Sinhala පහ paha five
    
    Magadhi 𑀧𑀁𑀘 paṃca five
    
    Bengali পাঁচ pãcô five
    
    Rohingya 𐴉𐴝𐴣𐴏 fañs five
    
    Maharashtri 𑀧𑀁𑀘 paṃca five
    
    Marathi पाच pāċ five
    
    Pali pañca five
    
    Malay panca five
    
    Sauraseni 𑀧𑀁𑀘 paṃca five
    
    Hindustani
    
    Hindi पाँच pā̃c five
    
    English punch drink with five ingredients
    
    Northwestern Sauraseni
    
    Kashmiri پانٛژھ pānċh five
    
    Punjabi ਪੰਜ pañj five
    
    Western Sauraseni
    
    Romani panʒ five
    
    Romani panʒvardeś fifty
    
    Sanskrit 𑀧𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀯𑀺𑀁𑀰𑀢𑀺 páñcaviṃśati twenty-five
    
    Sauraseni
    
    Hindustani
    
    Hindi पच्चीस paccīs twenty-five
    
    English pachisi
    
    English Parcheesi
    
    Iranian *pánča
    
    Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧𐬗𐬀 paṇca five
    
    Bactrian πανζο panzo five
    
    Northern Iranian
    
    Ossetian фондз fonʒ five
    
    Sogdian 𐫛𐫗𐫝 panč five
    
    Pashto پنځه pinźë́ five
    
    Western Iranian
    
    Northwestern Iranian
    
    Kurdish pênc five
    
    Old Persian
    
    Persian پنج panj five
    
    Persian پنجاب panjâb Punjab (lit. five rivers)
    
    Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬ pañjāb Punjab
    
    English Punjab
    
    Persian پنجه panja paw
    
    Hindi पंजा pañjā paw, claw, hand, group of 5
    
    Ottoman Turkish پنچه pençe hand, paw, claw, signature
    
    Turkish pençe paw, claw
    
    Romanian pingea sole (bottom of shoe)
    
    Serbo-Croatian панџа pandža claw
  - Italo-Celtic *kʷenkʷe assimilation
    
    Celtic *kʷenkʷe five
    
    Brythonic *pɨmp five ^[3]
    
    Welsh pump five ^[3]
    
    Gaulish pempe five ^[3]
    
    Old Irish cóic five
    
    Irish cúig five
    
    Italic *kʷenkʷe five
    
    Latin quīnque five
    
    Vulgar Latin *cīnque five ^[4]
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian cinque five
    
    Eastern Romance
    
    Romanian cinci five
    
    Insular Romance
    
    Sardinian
    
    Campidanese cincu
    
    Logudorese chimbi five
    
    Western Romance
    
    French cinq five
    
    Haitian Creole senk five
    
    Spanish cinco five
    
    Tagalog singko five
    
    Spanish Cinco de Mayo
    
    English Cinco de Mayo
    
    Latin quīndecim fifteen
    
    Vulgar Latin *quindece ^[4]
    
    Insular Romance
    
    Sardinian
    
    Logudorese bindighi fifteen
    
    Western Romance
    
    French quinze fifteen
    
    Latin quīncūnx five-twelfths, the five on a die
    
    English quincunx
    
    Oscan 𐌐𐌖𐌌𐌐𐌄 pumpe five
    
    Oscan *Pumpeis? "of five"
    
    Latin Pompeiī
    
    English Pompeii
    
    Latin Pompeius
    
    English Pompey
    
    Umbrian 𐌐𐌖𐌌𐌐𐌄 pumpe
  - Messapian ΠΕΝΚΑΗΕΗ penkaheh five
  - Phrygian ΠΙΝΚΕ pinke five
  - Tocharian *p'äñś
    
    Arshian päñ five
    
    Kushean piś five
  - Proto-Indo-European *penkʷtós fifth
    
    Albanian pestë fifth
    
    Balto-Slavic *pénktas fifth (ordinal)
    
    Baltic
    
    East Baltic
    
    Lithuanian penktas fifth (ordinal)
    
    West Baltic
    
    Old Prussian penckts fifth
    
    Slavic *pętъ fifth (ordinal)
    
    East Slavic пѧтъ pętŭ
    
    Russian пятый pjatyj fifth (ordinal)
    
    Ukrainian п'ятий pʺjatyj fifth (ordinal)
    
    South Slavic
    
    Old Church Slavonic пѧтъ pętŭ fifth (ordinal)
    
    Serbo-Croatian пети peti fifth (ordinal)
    
    West Slavic
    
    Czech pátý fifth (ordinal)
    
    Polish piąty fifth (ordinal)
    
    Germanic *fimftô fifth
    
    East Germanic
    
    Gothic *fimfta
    
    Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆𐍄𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌰 fimftataihunda the fifteenth
    
    North Germanic
    
    Old Norse fimti fifth (ordinal)
    
    Danish femte fifth
    
    Icelandic fimmti fifth (ordinal)
    
    West Germanic *fimftō fifth
    
    Old English fīfta fifth (ordinal)
    
    English fifth
    
    Frankish *fīfto
    
    Dutch vijfde fifth (ordinal)
    
    Old High German fimfto
    
    German fünfte fifth (ordinal)
    
    Yiddish פֿינפֿט finft fifth (ordinal)
    
    Hellenic *pénkʷtos
    
    Classical Greek πέμπτος pémptos fifth (ordinal)
    
    Greek πέμπτος pémptos fifth (ordinal)
    
    Greek Πέμπτη Pémpti Fifth (day), Thursday
    
    Italo-Celtic *kʷenkʷtos fifth
    
    Celtic *kʷenkʷetos fifth
    
    Brythonic *pɨmped fifth
    
    Welsh pumed fifth (ordinal)
    
    Gaulish pinpetos fifth
    
    Old Irish cóiced fifth (ordinal), fifth (fraction), province (a fifth of Ireland)
    
    Irish cúigiú fifth (ordinal)
    
    Irish cúige province
    
    Italic *kʷenkʷtos fifth
    
    Old Latin quīnctus fifth
    
    Latin quīntus fifth (ordinal)
    
    Latin Quīntus personal name: Fifth
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian Quinto
    
    Classical Greek Κόϊντος Kóïntos
    
    Latin Quīntīnus diminutive
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian Quintino
    
    Western Romance
    
    French Quentin
    
    English Quentin
    
    Spanish Quintín
    
    Latin Quīntīlis July before it was renamed after Julius Caesar
    
    Latin Quīnctīlius family name: of July
    
    Oscan 𐌐𐌏𐌌𐌐𐌕𐌖𐌔 pomptus fifth
    
    Latin Pontius personal name: Fifth?
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian Ponzio
    
    Italian Ponzi
    
    English Ponzi scheme
    
    Western Romance
    
    French Ponce
    
    English Pontius
    
    Tocharian
    
    Arshian pänt fifth
    
    Kushean piṅkte fifth
  - Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷedḱomt fifty
    
    Old Armenian յիսուն yisun fifty
    
    Armenian հիսուն hisun fifty
    
    Hellenic
    
    Classical Greek πεντήκοντᾰ pentḗkonta fifty
    
    Greek πενήντα penínta fifty
    
    Classical Greek πεντηκοστή pentēkostḗ fiftieth, Pentecost
    
    Latin Pentēcostē Pentecost
    
    English Pentecost
    
    Indo-Iranian *pančaHćát
    
    Indo-Aryan
    
    Sanskrit 𑀧𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀸𑀰𑀢𑁆 pañcāśát fifty
    
    Elu
    
    Dhivehi ފަންސާސް fan̊sās fifty
    
    Sinhala පනහ panaha fifty
    
    Magadhi
    
    Bengali পঞ্চাশ pôncash fifty
    
    Pali 𑀧𑀜𑁆𑀜𑀸𑀲 paññāsa fifty
    
    Sauraseni
    
    Hindustani
    
    Hindi पचास pacās fifty
    
    Iranian
    
    Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧𐬗𐬁𐬯𐬀𐬙 paṇcāsat fifty
    
    Western Iranian
    
    Northwestern Iranian
    
    Kurdish pêncî fifty
    
    Old Persian
    
    Persian پنجاه panjâh fifty
    
    Italic *kʷenkʷekentā
    
    Latin quīnquāgintā fifty
    
    Vulgar Latin *cīnquāgintā fifty
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian cinquanta fifty
    
    Insular Romance
    
    Sardinian
    
    Logudorese chimbanta fifty
    
    Western Romance
    
    French cinquante fifty
    
    Spanish cincuenta fifty
    
    Tocharian
    
    Kushean piśāka fifty
Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- to punch, to fist-fight
- Proto-Indo-European *punéǵti -n- imperfective
  - Italic *pungezi
    
    Latin pungere to puncture
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian pùngere to prick, to sting, to prickle
    
    Western Romance
    
    French poindre to prick, to sting, to begin
    
    Latin pungēns puncturing, stinging
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian pungente prickly, biting, pungent
    
    Western Romance
    
    Old French poignant pointed, pointy
    
    French poignant
    
    English poignant
    
    English pungent
    
    Latin pūnctiō a puncture
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian punzone stamp
    
    Western Romance
    
    Old French ponchon puncheon
    
    French poinçon stamp, awl, punch
    
    English puncheon
    
    English punch
    
    Spanish punzón awl
    
    Latin *impungere
    
    Eastern Romance
    
    Romanian împunge to prod, to goad, to prick
    
    Latin expungere strike out, erase
    
    English expunge
    
    Latin pūnctus punctured, stippled, marked with points
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian punto point
    
    Western Romance
    
    Old French point
    
    French point point
    
    English point
    
    Spanish punto point
    
    German bunt spotted, speckled, variegated
    
    Vulgar Latin punctus
    
    Vulgar Latin *punctiāre
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian ponzàre
    
    Medieval Latin pūnctus
    
    Medieval Latin pūnctuō
    
    English punctuate
    
    French punctuer
    
    Latin pūnctūra a puncture
    
    English puncture
- Proto-Indo-European *puǵlis
  - Italic
    
    Latin pugil boxer, pugilist
    
    English pugilism
- Proto-Indo-European *puǵméh
  - Hellenic *pugmá
    
    Classical Greek πυγμή pugmḗ fist, fistfight, distance from elbow to knuckles
    
    Classical Greek πυγμαῖος pugmaîos pygmy
    
    Latin pygmaeus pygmy
    
    English pygmy
- Proto-Indo-European *puǵnós
  - Italic
    
    Latin pugnus a fistful, a handful, a fist
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian pugno fist, punch, handful
    
    Greek μπουνιά bouniá fist, punch
    
    Eastern Romance
    
    Romanian pumn fist, punch, handful
    
    Western Romance
    
    French poing fist
    
    Spanish puño fist, handful, wristband, handle
    
    Latin pugnāre to fight, to oppose, to struggle
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian pugnàre to fight
    
    Western Romance
    
    Spanish puñar to fight, to attack
    
    Latin impugnāre to attack, to assail
    
    English impugn
    
    Latin repugnāre to fight against, to resist, to struggle
    
    Latin repugnāns
    
    English repugnant
    
    Latin pugnāx tending to fight, combative, aggressive
    
    Central Romance
    
    Italian pugnace pugnacious
    
    Western Romance
    
    French pugnace pugnacious
    
    English pugnacious
    
    Spanish pugnaz pugnacious
- Proto-Indo-European *punǵstis
  - Germanic *funstiz ^[1]
    
    West Germanic *fūsti a fist
    
    Old English fȳst a fist
    
    English fist
    
    Frankish *fūst
    
    Dutch vuist a fist
    
    Old High German fūst
    
    German Faust a fist ^[2]
    
    English Faust
    
    Yiddish פֿויסט foyst a fist
  - Balto-Slavic
    
    Slavic *pę̑stь
    
    East Slavic
    
    Russian пясть pjastʹ
    
    Russian запястье zapjastʹje wrist
    
    South Slavic
    
    Serbo-Croatian пест pest fist regional
    
    Serbo-Croatian песница pesnica fist regional
    
    West Slavic
    
    Polish pięść fist

Visual

Collected English words

fist, Faust, finger, five, penta-, punch, pachisi, Parcheesi, Punjab, Cinco de Mayo, quincunx, Pompeii, Pompey, fifth, Quentin, Ponzi scheme, Pontius, Pentecost, poignant, pungent, puncheon, punch, expunge, point, punctuate, puncture, pugilism, pygmy, impugn, repugnant, pugnacious, pentagon, Pentagon

Footnotes

^
Oddly, Germanic seems to maintain several hand-related words apparently lost in most or all other branches, except in number words derived from them: hand from otherwise unattested *ḱomt, which apparently forms the basis of *déḱm̥: "ten" and *(d)ḱm̥tóm: "hundred", as well as this fist and finger from same root as *pénkʷe: "five". *pn̥kʷstis: "fist" is also attested in Balto-Slavic, but *penkʷrós: "finger" and *ḱomt: "hand" are only in Germanic.
^
The legendary German figure "Faust", after historical figure Johann Georg Faust, is generally derived from Latin faustus: "fortunate", used in Latin as a cognomen and the name of several early Christian martyrs and bishops. It's not clear what if any influence there is from German Faust: "fist". There is evidence of the German surname previously being spelled as "Fust" and then changing to "Faust", which is the same change as the word for "fist".
^
Note that Welsh pump (and Gaulish pempe) cannot come from the unassimalated *pénkʷe. In Proto-Celtic, all IE *p become Celtic *ɸ, and then lost in all surviving descendants. A Welsh form from *pénkʷe would look something like *emp instead. So even even though they start with p-, they are from *kʷénkʷe, with a re-emergence of the p from the regular *kʷ -> *p change in the "p-Celtic" languages such as Welsh and Gaulish.

Oscan and Umbrian forms with p could be from either *pénkʷe or *kʷénkʷe, since they have the same *kʷ -> *p, but in their case that merges *kʷ with inherited *p. But in this case it appears to be more parsimonious to assume *p -> *kʷ -> *p, than to assume an unchanged *p, so they are assumed to come from the same Italic *kʷénkʷe as Latin quīnque.
^
In Vulgar Latin decides it no longer likes the assimilated quīnque, and _dissimilates_ to *cinque. But in the Latin quīndecim: "fifteen", there is no second qu, and no dissimilation occurs, leaving Vulgar Latin *quindece. This leads to the phenomenon that in most Romance languages, the words for "five" and "fifteen" start with different sounds, e.g. French cinq (/sɛ̃k/) vs. quinze (/kɛ̃z/) or Logudorese Sardinian chimbe (/kim.bɛ/) vs. bindighi (/bin.di.ɡi/). (The Sardinian shows another one of those kw- to p- type changes).

In Eastern Romance languages, "fifteen" is re-derived from "five" as a calque of Old Church Slavonic пѧть на десѧте pętĭ na desęte: "five on (top of) ten", and so "five" and "fifteen" do match initial sounds: Aromanian tsintsi/tsisprã-dzatsi or Romanian cinci/cincisprezece.

The derivation for "fifty": Latin quīnquāgintā keeps the second qu, so it dissimilates to *cīnquāgintā like "five".

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