Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kerp-

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.

Ultimately derived from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). A general word for “to harvest” that had a tendency in some branches to be specialized for the picking of fruit while in others for the reaping of grain.

*kerp-^[1]

1. to pluck, harvest

• *kerp- (root verb)
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic: *kerp-, *kirp-
    • Latvian: cìrpt (“to shave”)
    • Lithuanian: kir̃pti (“to cut, chop”)
    • Proto-Slavic: *čerpti (“to scoop, draw”), *čerpati, *čьrpati
  • Italic:
    • Latin: carpō (“to pluck”)
• *kerp-os
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic: *kerpas
    • Proto-Slavic: *čerpъ
• *kerp-h₁-o-
  • Proto-Tocharian: *käurp-^[2]
    • Tocharian B: kurp- (“to be concerned with”)
• Unsorted formations:
  • Proto-Albanian: *karpudā
    • Albanian: kërpudhë (“mushroom”)
  • Proto-Germanic: *harbistaz (“harvest, autumn”)
  • Hellenic:
    • Ancient Greek: καρπός (karpós, “fruit < *what is plucked”), κρώπιον (krṓpion, “sickle”)
  • Indo-Iranian:
    • Indo-Aryan:
      • Sanskrit: कृपाणी (kṛpāṇī, “dagger”), कृपाण (kṛpāṇa, “sword”)

• Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 258
• Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 559