lemÌc. Lemizh grammar and dictionary

Lemizh / English dictionary


782 lemmata in dictionary – view complete dictionary on one page (slow!)multilingual dictionary

spàsk.

to make dolphins (also the constellation Delphinus; see appendix, Constellations)

Etymology

NLem spesk‑a
LMLem tUpèsk‑yr
MLem tUpeesk‑yr
OLem tüpēsk‑
PLem *tū‑pēsk‑, compound of
  PLem *tū‑ ‘swell, become strong’, root present of
PIE *teu̯h₂‑
 —and—
  PLem *pēsk‑ ‘fish’
PIE *péi̯sk̑‑os

The dolphin is not, as is often thought, named a ‘strong fish’ or a ‘humped fish’, but a ‘wombed fish’ – as evidenced by the Greek calque δελφίς ‘dolphin’ < δελφύς ‘womb’.

Cognates

Lat tūber ‘swelling, hump’; Eng fish