legʰ-mn̥-
“reasoning, speech, word-gathering”logic, logos, dialogue, epilogue
Nominal of *legʰ- giving Greek logos, English logic, dialogue, epilogue, prologue, analogy.
Discussion
The Proto-Indo-European form *legʰ-mn̥- is a nominal derivative meaning "that which is laid down," built on the root *leǵʰ- "to lie, to lay oneself down" with the suffix *-mn̥-. Pokorny (IEW 658–659) reconstructs the base under *legh- with primary meanings of lying down and resting. The Germanic reflex is among the richest: English lay, lie, and their derivatives preserve the original postural sense, while law (from Old Norse lagu, literally "that which is laid down") demonstrates the metaphorical extension from physical placement to legal establishment. The word ledger, originally a book that "lies" permanently in one place, transferred the spatial sense to commercial record-keeping. English lair, a place where an animal lies down, retains the most concrete PIE meaning. German Lager "camp, storehouse, bed" gave English the word lager, since Lagerbier was beer stored lying in cool cellars during maturation. Beekes connects Greek lékhomai and lékhos "bed, lair" to the same source. Watkins traces the full semantic arc from physical recumbence through established custom to codified law, arguing that the conceptual link is the notion of something settled, fixed, and no longer in motion. The root reveals how the Indo-European mind moved from the simplest bodily act — lying down to rest — to the most abstract social institution — the law that lies established over a community.