June theme: Domestic Animals 🐕

Introduction

Proto-Indo-European has *gʷṓws: "cow, cattle" and *woḱéh₂: "(female) cow". The expected feminine of the *gʷṓws would be something like **gʷow(s)éh₂. *woḱéh₂ looks similar, but not quite there.

Sino-Tibetan *ŋwa: "cattle, ox" is also highly reminiscent of *gʷṓws. If there was a Central Asian substrate word behind both the PIE and the ST, a borrowing could also explain why the feminine *woḱéh₂ is slightly off.

Teaser

cow, butter, botany, beef, vaccine

Full Text

• Central Asian Substrate

  • Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws cow, cattle

    • Pre-Albanian *gauka

      • Albanian gak boar
    • Anatolian ​​*gwóʔu-

      • Luwic

        • Hieroglyphic Luwian 𔑺𔗬𔗔 BOS-wa-sa cow where 𔑺 BOS is a semantic determinative
        • Lycian 𐊇𐊀𐊇𐊀 wawa cow
    • Old Armenian կով kov cow

      • Armenian կով kov cow
    • Balto-Slavic *gōw-

      • Latvian govs cow
      • Slavic *govę̀do head of cattle, bull, ox

        • East Slavic говѧдо govędo

          • Russian говя́до govjádo cattle
        • South Slavic

          • Old Church Slavonic говѧдо govędo
          • Serbo-Croatian го̀ведо gòvedo cattle
        • West Slavic

          • Czech hovado cattle
    • Celtic *bāus

      • Brythonic

        • Middle Welsh bu
      • Gaulish

        • Gaulish Bomarus Cow-Great personal name
      • Old Irish bó ox, cow

        • Irish bó cow

          • Irish buachaill bó cowherd, cowboy
          • Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge The Cattle Raid of Cooley
    • Celtic *bowkkā

      • Brythonic

        • Welsh buwch cow
    • Germanic *kūz cow

      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse kýr cow

          • Danish ko cow
          • Icelandic kýr cow
        • Samic *kusë

          • Northern Sami gussa cow
      • West Germanic

        • Old English cū cow

          • English cow
          • Scots coo cow
          • Old English cȳ cows plural

            • Old English cȳen cows double plural

              • English kine
        • Frankish

          • Dutch koe cow
        • Old High German kuo

          • German Kuh cow
          • Yiddish קו ku cow
    • Hellenic *gʷous

      • Classical Greek βοῦς boûs ox, cow, cattle, shield

        • Koine Greek βοΐδιον boḯdion

          • Greek βόδι vódi ox
        • Classical Greek Βουκέφᾰλος Bouképhalos Ox-Head horse name

          • English Bucephalus
        • Classical Greek βόειος bóeios bovine, pertaining to cows and oxen

          • Classical Greek βοείη boeíē cowhide

            • Latin boia collar, fetter

              • Western Romance

                • Old French buie fetter, chain

                  • Old French buie buoy possible, but more likely from West Germanic cognate to "beacon"

                    • Dutch boei buoy, shackle, fetter

                      • English buoy

                        • English buoyant
        • Classical Greek βουλῑμία boulīmía ravenous hunger lit. "ox's hunger"

          • English bulimia
        • Classical Greek βουστροφηδόν boustrophēdón writing that switches LtR/RtL with each line lit. "turning like an ox (ploughing a field

          • English boustrophedon
        • Classical Greek βούτῡρον boútūron butter lit. "cow-cheese"

          • Latin būtȳrum butter

            • Central Romance

              • Italian burro butter
            • Western Romance

              • French beurre butter
              • West Germanic *buterǭ

                • Old English butere butter

                  • English butter
                • Frankish *butero

                  • Dutch boter butter
                • Old High German butira butter

                  • German Butter butter

                    • Serbo-Croatian пу̏тер pȕter butter
                  • Yiddish פּוטער puter butter
        • Classical Greek ἑκατόμβη hekatómbē animal sacrifice, hecatomb, great sacrifice lit. "hundred oxen"

          • Latin hecatombē

            • English hecatomb
      • Hellenic *gʷouskō to tend to cows

        • Classical Greek βόσκω bóskō to graze, to feed, to tend to a herd

          • Greek βόσκω vósko to graze
          • Classical Greek βοτᾰ́νη botánē grass, fodder, herbs

            • Classical Greek βοτανικός botanikós of herbs, botanical

              • Greek βοτανικός votanikós botanical
              • Medieval Latin botanicus

                • French botanique botanical

                  • English botanic

                    • English botany
    • Indo-Iranian *gā́wš

      • Indo-Aryan

        • Dardic *gā́va

          • Kashmiri گاو gāv
        • Sanskrit 𑀕𑁄 gó cow, ox, cattle

          • Maharashtri

            • Marathi गाय gāy cow from gavi form
          • Sauraseni 𑀕𑀸𑀈 gāī

            • Madhya Sauraseni

              • Hindi गाय gāy cow
          • Pali go

            • Khmer គោ koo ox, cow, bull
            • Thai โค koo cow, ox
          • Telugu గోవు gōvu cow, ox
          • Sanskrit 𑀕𑁄𑀭𑀽𑀧 gorūpá bovine, cow-like, cow-shaped

            • Magadhi

              • Bengali গোরু goru cow, ox, cattle
            • Maharashtri

              • Marathi गुरू gurū cattle
            • Sauraseni

              • Romani guruv ox, bull
          • Sanskrit 𑀕𑁄𑀢𑁆𑀭 gotra cow-pen, enclosure, homestead, family, tribe

            • Pali

              • Thai โคตร kôot ancestry, clan, lineage
            • Telugu గోత్రము gōtramu family, tribe, lineage
          • Sanskrit 𑀕𑁄𑀤𑀸𑀯𑀭𑀻 Godāvarī Cow-giver river name

            • Maharashtri

              • Marathi गोदावरी Godāvarī

                • English Godavari
          • Sanskrit 𑀕𑁄𑀧𑀸𑀮 gópālá cowherd kenning of "king", epithet of Krishna and Shiva

            • Sauraseni

              • Madhya Sauraseni

                • Hindi ग्वाला gvālā herdsman, milkman
            • Telugu గోపాలుడు gōpāluḍu cowherd, king
      • Iranian *gā́wš cow

        • Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬊 gao cow, bull

          • Avestan gao-čiθra epithet of the moon, appears as a bull? lineage of a bull? splendor of a bull?
        • Northern Iranian

          • Ossetian хъуг qug cow
        • Pashto غوا ghwā cow
        • Western Iranian

          • Northwestern Iranian

            • Balochi گوک gúk cow
            • Kurdish ga ox, bull
          • Old Persian

            • Persian گاو gāv cow
      • Nuristani *gā

        • Kamviri go
      • Indo-Iranian *gā́wajana cattle-goad

        • Indo-Aryan

          • Sanskrit 𑀕𑀯𑀚𑀦 gavájana
        • Iranian

          • Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬁𐬰𐬀
          • Western Iranian

            • Northwestern Iranian

              • Parthian

                • Old Armenian գաւազան gawazan goad, cudgel, punishment, staff, authority, diocese

                  • Armenian գավազան gavazan staff, shepherd's crook, scepter, authority
            • Old Persian

              • Persian گوازه gavāza ox-goad
              • Persian گاوزنه gâvzane ox-goad
    • Italic *gʷōs

      • Osco-Umbrian

        • Oscan buv-
        • Umbrian 𐌁𐌖𐌌 bum cow only attested as accusative
        • Latin bōs cow, ox expected Latin would be **ūs/**vōs

          • Central Romance

            • Italian bove ox from Acc.: `bove(m
          • Western Romance

            • French bœuf ox, beef from Acc.: `bove(m

              • English beef
            • Spanish buey ox, steer

              • Mexican Spanish güey
          • Latin bovīnus

            • English bovine
    • Thracian *bonasos? a bull

      • Classical Greek βόνασος bonasos European bison, wisent
    • Tocharian *kewä

      • Arshian ko cow
      • Kushean keᵤ cow
    • Proto-Indo-European *gʷowkólos cowherd ^[1]

      • Celtic *boukolyos

        • Brythonic

          • Welsh bugail shepherd, pastor
        • Old Irish búachaill cowherd, herdsman

          • Irish buachaill boy, boyfriend, herdsman, (male) employee
          • Irish buachaill bó cowherd, cowboy
      • Hellenic *gʷoukólos

        • Mycenaean Greek 𐀦𐀄𐀒𐀫 qo-u-ko-ro cowherders
        • Classical Greek βουκόλος boukólos cowherd

          • Classical Greek βουκολῐκός boukolikós rustic, pastoral, pastoral poetry

            • Latin būcolicus pertaining to shepherds, bucolic

              • English bucolic
    • Proto-Indo-European **gʷow(s)éh₂

      • Proto-Indo-European *woḱéh₂ (female) cow

        • Indo-Iranian *waĉáH

          • Indo-Aryan *waśáH

            • Sanskrit 𑀯𑀰𑀸 vaśā́ cow
        • Italic *wokā

          • Latin vacca (female) cow

            • Central Romance

              • Italian vacca
            • Eastern Romance

              • Romanian vacă cow, beef
            • Insular Romance

              • Sardinian bacca cow
            • Western Romance

              • French vache
              • Spanish vaca cow, beef, leather

                • Cherokee ᏩᎦ waga cow
                • Nahuatl huācax cow
                • Navajo béégashii cow
                • Quechua waka cow
            • Latin vaccīnus of or derived from a cow

              • Central Romance

                • Italian vaccino bovine, vaccine
              • Western Romance

                • French vaccin

                  • English vaccine

                    • Irish vacsaín
                    • Japanese ワクチン wakuchin
                    • Korean 백신 baeksin
                  • Persian واکسن vâksan
                  • Russian вакци́на vakcína
                  • Vietnamese vắc-xin
            • Latin *vaccārius cowherder

              • Central Romance

                • Italian vaccaio cowherd
              • Eastern Romance

                • Romanian văcar cowherd
              • Western Romance

                • French vacher cowherd
                • Spanish vaquero cowherd, cowboy, jeans

                  • English buckaroo
  • Sino-Tibetan *ŋwa cattle, ox

    • Old Chinese 牛 *ŋʷɯ cow, ox, buffalo, bovine, beef

      • Middle Chinese 牛

        • Mandarin 牛 niú
        • Wu 牛 nyieu3
        • Yue 牛 ngau4
        • Japanese ぎゅう gyū cow, ox, cattle
      • Min 牛

        • Hokkien 牛 gû
    • Tibeto-Burman

      • Lolo-Burmese

        • Southwestern Tai

          • Lao ງົວ ngūa cow
          • Thai วัว wuua cow, bovine
      • Tibeto-Kanauri

        • Tibetan བ ba cow

          • Tibetan བ་ཕྱུགས ba phyugs cattle lit. "domestic cow" or "cow-wealth"?
          • Tibetan ?

            • French zébu

              • English zebu
  • Vietic *bɔː bovine, zebu

    • Vietnamese bò zebu, (straight-horned) bovine

Visual

Collected English words

cow, kine, Bucephalus, buoy, buoyant, bulimia, boustrophedon, butter, hecatomb, botanic, botany, Godavari, beef, bovine, bucolic, vaccine, buckaroo, zebu

Footnotes

1. ^

   Proto-Indo-European *gʷowkólos: "cowherd" is composed of *gʷow-: "cow" + *kʷólos: "herder" from *kʷel-: "to turn, to move, to cultivate". But the sequence of two labio-velars dissimilates from *gʷ...kʷ to *gʷ...k. This is, in fact, called "the boukólos rule" after this example. If there wasn't dissimilation the Greek would be βουπόλος boupólos instead.