Proto-Indo-European Roots
| Root/Stem: | *arg'- |
| Meaning: | white, to shine; silver |
| Cognates: | |
| Hellenic | Greek argos (white), arguros, arguron (silver) |
| Italic | Latin argentum (silver), Oscan aragetud (silver; abl.sg.), Faliscan arcentelom (a silver coin; acc.sg.) |
| Celtic | Common Celtic *argent- (silver), > Gaulish argento- (silver), Old Irish arget, argat, Middle Irish airget, Irish & Scottish Gaelic airgead, Welsh ariant, Breton arc'hant, Cornish argant |
| Indic | Sanskrit arjuna- (white, shining), rajata- (silver) |
| Iranian | Avestan @r@zata- (silver) |
| Tocharian | Tocharian A árki-, B aerkwi- (white) |
| Anatolian | Hittite harki- (white) |
| Armenian | Armenian arcath (silver) |
| Balkan | Phrygian arg- (silver), Thracian arzas (white, shine) |
| Notes: | The Proto-meaning of this root was obviously 'white, shining'
which was preserved in Greek, Sanskrit, Tocharic, Thracian and Anatolian. However, already
Proto-Indo-Europeans must have discovered silver and took up this word for it: practically
all branches denote silver with this very word. The only branch which lacks the root, is Germano-Balto-Slavic which used another stem for 'silver': Slavic *sirebro, Baltic *silabr-, *sirabl-, Germanic *silbr-. Its origin is dark - many think it was borrowed from "Pelasgian" (cp. Sibros argureos potamos - a "silver" river in Lycia), some suppose its Indo-Aryan (from kubhros) or Iranian roots. |