On the Proto-Indo-European etymon for ‘hand’

Abstract

PIE *penk^we was the original word for ‘hand’, but its incorporation into the numerical system as ‘five’ led to its replacement in its original sense in all but vestigial attestations in the later languages. In addition to Gmc finger and fist, such attestations include Lat. propinquus ‘nearby’, lit. ‘before the hand’ (cf. Eng. ‘at hand’) and pignus ‘surety’ < *penk^w-nos ‘something left in the hand’; Gk. pémpō ‘send’, earlier ‘guide on a journey’, orig. ‘take by the hand’; and Baltic and Slavic ‘hand’ (Lith. rankà, Russ, ruka), which reflects a blend of the original etymon with that for ‘arm’. PIE *kont-, the source of Gmc. hand, also appearing in the word for ‘ten’ (PIE *dékt), specifically referred to the right hand; *dékt is analyzable into *dek ‘right, proper’ + *kt ‘right hand’, a pleonastic compound signifying the completion of a left-to-right progression in finger-counting.