Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/spōk

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-West Germanic

Etymology

Unknown. According to Klein, from a Proto-Indo-European source shared with Latvian spīgana (“dragon, witch”), Lithuanian spingėti (“to shine”), Old Prussian spanxti (“spark”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pāuǵ-, *(s)pāug- (“to shine, spark; brilliance, spectre”), though the vowels make this less plausible. It could otherwise have been borrowed from a substrate language in the area where Low German/Dutch was spoken. Compare *pūkō.

Noun

*spōk n

1. spook, ghost, apparition
2. witchcraft, wizardry

Descendants

• Old Frisian: spōk
  • North Frisian: Spook
  • Saterland Frisian: Spouk
  • West Frisian: spoek
• Old Saxon: *spōk
  • Middle Low German: spôk
    • German Low German: Spöök
      • → German: Spuk, Spökes
    • → Old Danish: spøg
      • Danish: spøg
    • → Faroese: spók
    • → Norwegian: spjok
    • → Swedish: spöke
• Old Dutch: *spōk
  • Middle Dutch: spoke, spooce
    • Dutch: spook
      • → English: spook

References

• J. de Vries (1971), Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek, Leiden
• Klein, Dr. Ernest, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., 1971.