NODE / 0005reconstructedProto-Germanic
*lubō
love
- DATE
- c. 500 BCE
- SENSE
- default
- FAMILY
- Indo-European / Germanic
- CANONICAL KEY
- node:5:lubo:reconstructed
*This form is reconstructed by comparison. It is not directly attested in this exact written form.
01ANCESTRAL EDGES
ROOT OF THIS ROOT
GO DEEPERinheritanceprobable
Proto-Indo-European · c. 4500–2500 BCE*lewbʰ-
to love, desire, care for
- SOUND
- Germanic reflects the inherited root with regular treatment of PIE *bʰ and a different vowel grade.
- MEANING
- Desire, approval, care, and affection overlap across daughter languages.
- SCHOLAR
- Pokorny · Mallory & Adams
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — The breadth of the reconstructed gloss is debated.
02DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES
THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Proto-West Germanic · c. 200 BCE–600 CE*lubu
love
- SOUND
- A regular West Germanic continuation with final-vowel and inflectional reshaping.
- MEANING
- The central sense remained stable.
- SCHOLAR
- Kroonen 2013
- CONFIDENCE
- probable
03TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE
EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE
This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.
- UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES
- 4
- REVIEWED EDGES
- 4
- DEEPEST PATH
- 4
- MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
- 1
HISTORICAL STEP 011 EDGE
STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- A regular West Germanic continuation with final-vowel and inflectional reshaping.
- MEANING
- The central sense remained stable.
HISTORICAL STEP 021 EDGE
STEP 02inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- West Germanic medial /b/ developed a fricative realization represented by Old English ⟨f⟩.
- MEANING
- The affective core remained stable.
Kroonen · comparative Germanic evidence2 CITATIONSEDGE 3 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 031 EDGE
STEP 03inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Final unstressed -u was lost; Old English intervocalic ⟨f⟩ had a voiced realization [v].
- MEANING
- Religious, familial, erotic, and social senses continued.
Middle English Dictionary editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 2 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 041 EDGE
STEP 04inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Spelling stabilized around love while the short stressed vowel continued into modern English.
- MEANING
- Inherited noun and verb expanded into preference, devotion, and address.
“Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.
04RECORDED EVIDENCE
ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE
NO RECORDED WITNESS ATTACHED.That is expected for a reconstructed form: the node is inferred from comparison, not quoted from a surviving occurrence.
05EDITORIAL REUSE
WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE