sekʷ-
“to say, to tell, to utter”say/tell
PIE root meaning to say, tell, or utter. Source of Latin sequor (in the sense of recounting), and words for speech.
Discussion
The root *sekʷ- ("to say, to tell, to utter") is treated in LIV² and Pokorny (IEW 897–898). The labiovelar *kʷ is established by the divergent reflexes across branches: preserved as labial in some environments, as velar in others.
Greek énnepō (ἐννέπω, "I tell, I declare") reflects a prefixed form, while the aorist éeipe ("spoke") and the noun épos (ἔπος, "word, verse, epic poetry") continue the o-grade *sokʷ-/*sekʷ- directly. From épos derive English epic and epoch (via a different semantic line). Latin inquit ("says") preserves the root in a fossilized verb form used only in direct speech. The derived form sequor in the meaning "follow" may be from a homophonous but distinct root.
In Germanic, *sekʷ- yields Old English secgan ("to say, to tell"), Old Norse segja, Old High German sagēn, and Gothic saian. Modern English say continues this line directly. German sagen ("to say") is the standard reflex. The development *kʷ > Germanic *hw/g depending on position follows regular sound laws.
Old Irish insce ("speech") and the verbal form as-beir-sechi ("relates") preserve Celtic reflexes. Lithuanian sakyti ("to say") is a further Baltic cognate showing the expected centum-like treatment of the labiovelar.
The root displays straightforward e/o ablaut (*sekʷ-/*sokʷ-). Its semantic consistency across branches—"to utter, to speak, to tell"—is notable, with Greek alone developing the specialized literary sense "epic verse."
Notes
Source of Latin "inquit", Greek "ennépō". Distinct from *sekʷ- (to follow).