Proto-Indo-European Roots
Root/Stem: | *(s)uper, *(s)upo |
Meanings: | above, under |
Cognates: | |
Hellenic | Greek huper 'above', hupo 'under, down' |
Italic | Latin super 'above' |
Celtic | Common Celtic *wer 'over' > Old Welsh & Old Breton guor, Breton voar, oar, Gaulish ver-, Old Irish for, Irish Gaelic ar, Scottish air 'on, over' |
Indic | Sanskrit upa 'up, towards' |
Iranian | Avestan & Old Persian upa 'towards', Old Persian upari 'up, upwards' |
Germanic | Gothic uf 'under', ufar, ufaro 'above', Old English of 'of, out of', ofer 'over, above' |
Notes: | This root can rarely be found in dictionaries, because denoted an auxiliary part of speech, not a noun nor a verb. But it is really interesting, especially bearing in mind the *s- which is found in Greek and Italic only. The number of cognates proves it was common Indo-European. |