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

1. ^

   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.

2. ^

   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".

3. ^

   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.

4. ^

   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".