%0 Journal Article
%T The Proto-Indo-European root for ‘apple’ and the problem of comparative reconstruction
%A Piwowarczyk, Dariusz R.
%J Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia
%V 2014
%R 10.4467/20843836SE.14.009.1652
%N Volume 19, Issue 3
%P 161-167
%K etymology, Proto-Indo-European, Wanderwort, loanwords
%@ 1427-8219
%D 2014
%U https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/studia-etymologica-cracoviensia/artykul/the-proto-indo-european-root-for-apple-and-the-problem-of-comparative-reconstruction
%X 
	This article investigates the problem of the lexeme for ‘apple’ in the reconstructed Indo-European for which there are two roots possible, namely *meh2-lo and *h2ebol-, both meaning ‘apple’ or a fruit similar to it. The former has been usually taken as a borrowing while the latter as a true PIE root for ‘apple’. However, there are problems with this assumption – the presence of the vowel */a/ and the consonant */b/, both of marginal status, and the attestation of this lexeme mostly in the North-West Indo-European languages. It is shown that the lexeme in question might actually be an ancient Wanderwort.