NODE / 0658reconstructedProto-Indo-European
*werh₁-
TRANSLITERATION *werh₁-
speak
- DATE
- Proto-Indo-European speaking root
- SENSE
- speak root
- FAMILY
- Indo-European
- CANONICAL KEY
- node:6:werh1:reconstructed:sense:speak-root
American Heritage gives *werh1- as the oldest root shape, with a *wreh1- variant.
*This form is reconstructed by comparison. It is not directly attested in this exact written form.
01ANCESTRAL EDGES
ROOT OF THIS ROOT
*THE TRAIL ENDS HERE.No securely reviewed ancestor extends beyond this node. 6 evidence paths stop at this boundary.
INSPECT 6 CITED BOUNDARY CLAIMS
02DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES
THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP
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
- 24
- REVIEWED EDGES
- 24
- DEEPEST PATH
- 6
- MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
- 6
HISTORICAL STEP 012 EDGES
STEP 01derivationestablished
- SOUND
- Zero-grade *wr̥- combines with the reconstructed *-dho- nominal suffix.
- MEANING
- The speaking root becomes a noun for something spoken.
Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 628 ↗ STEP 01derivationestablished
- SOUND
- Full-grade *wer- combines with the reconstructed *-dho- suffix.
- MEANING
- The speaking root becomes a nominal formation for something spoken.
Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 635 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 022 EDGES
STEP 02inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Germanic *wurdam reflects the zero-grade *wr̥-dho- formation with inherited Germanic nominal development.
- MEANING
- The reconstructed spoken-unit noun remains the source of the Germanic word family.
Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors1 CITATIONEDGE 627 ↗ STEP 02inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- The reconstructed *wer-dho- formation develops into Latin verbum; the graph records the published comparison without inventing intermediate spellings.
- MEANING
- A formation meaning something spoken becomes Latin word, utterance, and later grammatical verb.
Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 634 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 036 EDGES
STEP 03inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Old English word continues reconstructed Germanic *wurdam through inherited West Germanic development.
- MEANING
- Something spoken remains a word or utterance.
Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 626 ↗ STEP 03semantic specializationestablished
- SOUND
- The Latin form is unchanged; the grammatical use selects one technical sense of verbum.
- MEANING
- A general word or utterance becomes the name of the predicate word class.
STEP 03derivationestablished
- SOUND
- Late Latin verbalis adds the relational suffix -alis to verbum.
- MEANING
- A word or verb becomes the base of an adjective meaning of or consisting of words.
STEP 03compound memberestablished
- SOUND
- Latin adverbium contains verbum as its lexical member; ad- is exposed as a second canonical parent.
- MEANING
- A word attached toward another expression becomes a technical modifier category.
STEP 03compound memberestablished
- SOUND
- Latin proverbium contains verbum as its lexical member; pro- is exposed as a second canonical parent.
- MEANING
- A marked or public saying becomes the traditional maxim named by the compound.
STEP 03derivationestablished
- SOUND
- Medieval Latin verbatim forms an adverb on verbum with -atim.
- MEANING
- A word becomes the base of the distributive sense word by word.
HISTORICAL STEP 046 EDGES
STEP 04continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English word continues Old English word with no donor-language substitution.
- MEANING
- Word, utterance, and expression remain central.
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 625 ↗ STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Anglo-French verbe continues Latin verbum with Romance loss of the final syllable.
- MEANING
- The Latin grammatical use becomes the French and English class name.
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English verbale borrows Late Latin verbalis with English adaptation of the final syllable.
- MEANING
- Of words or verbs enters English and later supports the spoken-rather-than-written contrast.
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Middle French adverbe continues Latin adverbium with Romance loss of the final syllable.
- MEANING
- The Latin technical category enters French and English grammatical vocabulary.
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Anglo-French proverbe continues Latin proverbium with Romance loss of the final syllable.
- MEANING
- The Latin saying term becomes the French and English noun.
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- English verbatim borrows Medieval Latin verbatim with learned stress and pronunciation adaptation.
- MEANING
- Word for word remains the core adverbial meaning; adjective use develops later in English.
HISTORICAL STEP 055 EDGES
STEP 05continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Modern English preserves the inherited spelling word while pronunciation continues the history of English vowel and rhotic systems.
- MEANING
- The core linguistic-unit sense continues alongside utterance, promise, news, command, and technical extensions.
Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 624 ↗ STEP 05borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English verbe borrows Anglo-French verbe with minor English phonological adaptation.
- MEANING
- The grammatical term is transmitted without a return to the broader meaning word.
STEP 05continuationestablished
- SOUND
- English verbal regularizes the Middle English final vowel while preserving the learned base and suffix.
- MEANING
- The relational word sense continues while verb-related and spoken-language senses develop alongside it.
STEP 05borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English adverbe borrows Middle French adverbe.
- MEANING
- The grammatical category is transmitted through French.
STEP 05borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English proverbe borrows Anglo-French proverbe.
- MEANING
- The traditional maxim enters English through French.
HISTORICAL STEP 063 EDGES
STEP 06continuationestablished
- SOUND
- English verb regularizes the Middle English final vowel away while preserving the learned stem.
- MEANING
- The specialized grammatical class remains central.
STEP 06continuationestablished
- SOUND
- English adverb regularizes the Middle English final vowel while retaining the learned compound.
- MEANING
- The grammatical class remains a modifier category whose actual scope is wider than verbs alone.
STEP 06continuationestablished
- SOUND
- English proverb regularizes the Middle English final vowel while preserving the learned stem.
- MEANING
- The traditional-saying sense continues.
“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