Lemizh / English dictionary
782 lemmata in dictionary – view complete dictionary on one page (slow!) – multilingual dictionary
spàj.
to be sad about something-acc/causal-transporting (see unit 3, Ambiguous usage);
agentive caus, causal-reflexive: to sadden someone-nom
Etymology
< NLem spalm‑a
< LMLem, MLem spalnp‑a ‘disgrace’
< OLem spalnp‑
< PLem *spalnf‑ ‘speak publicly’, nasal-infix present of
< PIE *spelh₃‑
The semantic development is from ‘speak publicly about someone (good or bad)’ via ‘disgrace someone’, metonymically to ‘fall into disgrace’ and finally ‘be downcast, be sad’.
The phonetic similarity to spàz. ‘be happy’ is incidental.
Cognates
Eng spell ‘magical formula’, Lv peļu ‘vilify’