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

spook, ghost, apparition
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.