Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ster-

This Proto-Indo-European 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-Indo-European

Etymology

Suggested to be related to similar roots, either:

from *ster- (“to be stiff, rigid, unmoving, strong”)^[1];
from the more poorly supported root *ster- (“to rob”) (cf. Pokorny^[2]), whence Ancient Greek στερέω (steréō, “to deprive, take away”), στέρομαι (stéromai, “to be robbed (of); to lack”) and possibly Middle Irish serb (“theft”), thus literally “to be robbed (of offspring)”.^[3]

Root

*ster-^[4]^[1]

barren, infertile

Alternative reconstructions

*sterh₁-^[1]^[3]

Derived terms

Category Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ster- (barren) not found

*ster-íh₂-(s), *ster-yeh₂(-) (compare the adjective in *-yo- below)
*stér-ō ~ *str̥-nés^[5]^[6]
- ⇒ Proto-Germanic: *sterǭ f (see there for further descendants)
*stér-wont-s ~ *str-unt-és
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *stárwants
  - Proto-Iranian: *stárwans
    - Middle Persian: (“barren, childless”)
      Book Pahlavi script: [Book Pahlavi needed] (stlwn' /⁠starwan⁠/)
      - Persian: سترون (setarvan)^{[note 1]}
^? *ster-el-
- ⇒? Proto-Italic: *sterel-i-s
  - >? Latin: sterilis (alternatively from *ster-ih₂-?)^[3]^{[note 2]} (see there for further descendants)
*ster-yo- (“sterile”, adjective)
- Old Armenian: ստերջ (sterǰ, “sterile, barren”), ստերդ (sterd), ըստերջ (əsterǰ)
  - Armenian: ստերջ (sterǰ)
- Proto-Hellenic: *stéřřos
  - Ancient Greek: στεῖρος (steîros, adjective) (see there for further descendants)

Notes

^ Apparently reshaped by analogy with ستر (satar, “mule”), a variant of استر (astar). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)
^ The suffix *-elis, whence Latin -ilis, was also productive through Italic and into Latin. The original word to which the suffix was attached is unknown, as is what stage it was added at.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Pokorny, Julius (1959), “(s)ter-, (s)terə- : (s)trē-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1022
^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), “3. (s)ter-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1028
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “sterilis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 586
^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 51: “*ster- ‘barren, infertile’”
^ Kroonen, Guus Jann (2009), Consonant and vowel gradation in the Proto-Germanic n-stems (PhD thesis)‎^[1], Leiden: Leiden University, page 156: “*stér-ōn, *str̥-n-ós”
^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), “sterōn-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 478: “*ster-ōn, *str-n-ós”

[7] Apparently reshaped by analogy with ستر (satar, “mule”), a variant of استر (astar). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

[8] The suffix *-elis, whence Latin -ilis, was also productive through Italic and into Latin. The original word to which the suffix was attached is unknown, as is what stage it was added at.

[IEW-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Pokorny, Julius (1959), “(s)ter-, (s)terə- : (s)trē-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1022

[2] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “3. (s)ter-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1028

[EDL-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “sterilis”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 586

[4] Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 51: “*ster- ‘barren, infertile’”

[5] Kroonen, Guus Jann (2009), Consonant and vowel gradation in the Proto-Germanic n-stems (PhD thesis)‎^[1], Leiden: Leiden University, page 156: “*stér-ōn, *str̥-n-ós”

[EDPG-6] Kroonen, Guus (2013), “sterōn-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 478: “*ster-ōn, *str-n-ós”

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[note 1]

[note 2]