Lemizh / English dictionary
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spàz.
to be happy about something-acc/causal-transporting (also dat/causal-receiving, see unit 3, Ambiguous usage);
agentive caus, causal-reflexive: to please someone-nom
spèz stnÌtem. happy as a lark, lit. ‘happy as a sparrow’
Usage notes
The word formerly meant ‘warm, hot’ (see below). It has been noted that causes for being happy and causes for getting warm often coincide; they include Sun, food, drink, jumping about, and friction.
Etymology
gender change of
< NLem sp‑a
< LMLem tp‑yr ‘warm, hot’
< MLem tpu‑yr
< OLem tpu‑
< PLem *tpu‑, u-stem adjective of
< PIE *tep‑ ‘be warm, hot’
For some strange reason, masculinisation is common in verbs of emotion; see pqàb. ‘be angry’.
The phonetic similarity to spàj. ‘be sad’ is incidental.
Cognates
Lat tepeō ‘be warm’, Ved tāpáyati ‘heats, pains’