Questions tagged [proto-indo-european]
Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the reconstructed proto-language for the Indo-European language family
250
questions
6
votes
2answers
307 views
Is there a PIE feminising noun suffix?
I was wondering whether anyone knows the Proto-Indo-European equivalent of the Greek suffixes -ina (-ίνα) or -issa (-ισσα), or whether PIE has any different feminising suffixes that work similarly?
4
votes
2answers
586 views
Were the so-called aspirates of PIE ever aspirated?
In the thread Is unvoiced & unaspirated a category of speech? it was pointed out to me, that the aspirates in Indic languages, notably Sanskrit, are from a truly phonetic perspective not aspirates,...
4
votes
1answer
278 views
Is the Proto-Indo-European “ǵenh₁-” (to produce) related to “gʷḗn” (woman)?
I noticed a possible connection between the Ancient Greek "γυνή" and "γένεσις". I think semantically a relation between the two terms is plausible. Unfortunately I don't know enough about PIE ...
7
votes
2answers
549 views
Why can verbal roots in PIE only contain the vowel e?
Verbal roots of PIE are generally reconstructed as (C5) (C3) C1 e C2 (C4) (C6); with certain phonetical restrictions, especially on the outmost consonants.
I wonder why only "e" should be allowed as ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Current status of the controversy on the date of Indo-European dispersion
There are two conflicting theories about the dispersion of the people speaking proto-Indo-European (by which I mean the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, excluding Hittite and other ...
3
votes
2answers
325 views
In PIE are words for two and for hate connected?
In PIE we have
du̯is twice
du̯iteros second
du̯oi̯os twofold
du̯eiplos double
etc, with the root du̯ei̯-
At the same time we have:
du̯eiros fearful
du̯eisos hated
with seemingly the same ...
4
votes
1answer
225 views
Loans in Indo-Aryan languages indicating possible migration routes
I am aware of only few Uralic loans into Indo-Aryan languages that show migrations from Eurasia to India, Iran etc. What are typical examples of loan words that are unquestionably a result of a ...
2
votes
0answers
335 views
what evidence suggests that PIE was a tone language?
I have heard this claim stated with confidence, but it's difficult to see how it could be deduced from traditional reconstruction. Same question for ancient Greek.
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Why do mother/father/brother/sister/daughter all end in '-er'? [duplicate]
Is it just a coincidence, or was there a reason why they ended in '-er'? I know that all of them derive from PIE, where they also ended in '-er'.
Also, is this '-er' the same '-er' particle, as in '...
5
votes
2answers
792 views
Does “and” come from the PIE word for “and”?
From the etymology of and:
Old English and, ond, originally meaning "thereupon, next," from Proto-Germanic *unda (cf. Old Saxon endi, Old Frisian anda, Middle Dutch ende, Old High German enti, ...
4
votes
1answer
477 views
How future tense was expressed in PIE?
It is known that PIE had no grammatical future tense.
As such, I wonder how future events were expressed in PIE. Whether they used go-periphrasis, desiratives or a form of the root bheudh- (grow, ...
10
votes
1answer
793 views
Does English “day” really come from PIE *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”)?
day
From Middle English day, from Old English dæġ (“day”), from Proto-West Germanic *dag, from Proto-Germanic *dagaz (“day”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰogʷʰ-o-s, from *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn”).
Cognate ...
3
votes
1answer
431 views
Solution to a typological problem about PIE phonology: are there any facts that contradict this view?
Traditionally, PIE phonology postulates three voiceless velar/uvular stops to PIE:
*/ḱ/ (c), */k/ (q), */kʷ/ (q̆)
But I made a search for a PIE dictionary with come 11-15 thousand words, and found ...
3
votes
1answer
170 views
What laryngeal should be reconstructed in PIE word for wasp?
I encountered a contradiction between two respectful monographs.
Mallory gives the word as h2/3u̯obhseh2 thus excluding h1 while de Vaan gives totally opposite version, h1u̯obhseh2 thus excluding h2 ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
How does PIE *kʷ in **wĺ̥kʷos change to PGmc. *f in *wulfaz?
wĺ̥kʷos
The word *wĺ̥kʷos is a thematic accented zero-grade noun perhaps derived from the adjective *wl̥kʷós ‘dangerous’ (compare Hittite walkuwa ‘dangerous’, Old Irish olc ‘evil’, Sanskrit [script?...
10
votes
1answer
420 views
Did the PIE word for “copper” mean “imitation”?
Michiel de Vaan's Etymological Dictionary of Latin has for PIE:
a̯ei̯os copper
and
a̯eimos imitation, substitute
a̯imea̯ image, copy
All three words seemingly have the same root a̯ei̯-
Are these ...
6
votes
1answer
291 views
Origin of *-k- “extension” in (aorist of) some IE verbs?
In Greek, the PIE verbal roots *dheh1 'put' or 'do', *Hieh1 'throw', and *deh3 'give' show up with an unexpected -k- in some aorist forms: ἔθηκα, ἧκα, ἔδωκα. In Latin, the reflexes of the first two ...
5
votes
2answers
635 views
What is the origin of 't-' and 's-' words for second and third person possesive adjectives?
Many languages associate the t sound with the second person and the s with the third. For example Spanish (tu/tuyo, su/suyo), French (tu,ton/ta/tes,son/sa/ses), Italian (tu,tuo/tua/tuoi,suo/sua/suoi) ...
3
votes
1answer
151 views
Are the words for one and for going cognates in PIE?
We have in PIE:
e̯eitr way, pedestrian road
e̯imos road
e̯iera̯ year
e̯eiti goes
e̯iteros other, another, next
I wonder whether the word for "one"
e̯oinos alone, separated
connected to the ...
1
vote
0answers
86 views
Origin of PIE cmtom [duplicate]
In all books I have read so far (Beekes, for example), it is assumed that the word for hundred in PIE cmtom came from the word for "ten", decm. They thus postulate that the oldest (non-attested) form ...
-4
votes
2answers
530 views
Caucasoid people, Common Genetic roots and Common Proto-Language? [closed]
It is so probable that all Caucasoid people have had a common ancestor.
Does The fact that most of Caucasoid people speak a Semitic or Indo-European language not suggest that there has been an ...
2
votes
2answers
181 views
How does PIE *s- in *sriges- change to L. f- in frigus?
As shown in the Wiktionary:
frigus
From Proto-Indo-European *sriges-, *sriHges-.
But I can't find the clue to this sound change on Wikipedia, which concludes that PIE*bʰ, *dʰ, *gʷʰ will become L. ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Origin of current order pattern in English/German
It is well-known, or better said, well-accepted, that the ancestral language Proto-Indo-European (PIE) was a OV language with a very limited (or nonexistent) use of subordinate clauses. In Proto-...
11
votes
1answer
409 views
How does L. “quartus” come from L. “quattuor”, which has “quat” but “quart”?
quartus
From Latin quattuor ("four"), originally from Proto-Indo-European
As at July 2 2021, the Etymology at the same link for quartus Wiktionary has changed.
From Proto-Indo-European *...
4
votes
0answers
206 views
Is there a prohibition on stems starting with /g/ in PIE?
Is there a law that prohibits PIE stems starting with what traditionally reconstructed as non-palatal /g/?
So far I encountered with only one stem that the sources consistently reconstruct with this ...
2
votes
1answer
161 views
What prevents us from reconstructing PIE “u̯” by analogy with laryngeals?
The current laws for laryngeals presume the following reconstruction rules:
ē is reconstructed as eh1
ā is reconstructed as eh2
ō is reconstructed as eh3
word-initial e- is reconstructed as h1e
word-...
8
votes
5answers
785 views
What evidence supports labialized velars in PIE?
Traditional reconstruction gives the following velars in PIE:
*/ḱ/, */ǵ/, */ǵʰ/
*/k/, */g/, */gʰ/
*/kʷ/, */gʷ/, */gʷʰ/
I wonder what evidence is there to consider velars */kʷ/, */gʷ/, */gʷʰ/ ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Grimm's law: what motivates stop -> fricative sound change?
I am trying to understand the sound change that brought PIE *dent- to P.Gmc. *tanth-. Grimm's law seems to be the culprit for the consonant changes:
Initial voiced stop /d/ devoiced to /t/
Terminal ...
4
votes
3answers
599 views
Are “fish” and “to swim” related words?
When learning Thai, I was amazed how modern Thai word "fish" is similar to Slavic word "to swim"
Thai: ปลา [plaː] "fish"
Lao: ປາ [pa᷅ː]"fish"
Ukrainian: ...
10
votes
1answer
771 views
Etymology of the word “sport”
I wonder what is the etymology of the word sport.
Vasmer says that it is from disport "amusement", a contraction from Middle English disporten from Old French desporter "to take away", "to distract ...
1
vote
2answers
227 views
Word for road in PIE and overlaryngealism?
Lubotsky dictionary gives the word for "road" in PIE as
NOM *pónt-h₁-s
ACC *pont-éh₁-m
GEN *pnt-h₁-ós
This looks strange to me because I would expect a thematic vowel instead of the laryngeal. Can ...
2
votes
0answers
198 views
Is PIE “*wank-” the ultimate root of E “wankle”?
wankle
From Middle English wankel, from Old English wancol (“unstable, unsteady, tottering, vacillating, weak”), from Proto-Germanic *wankulaz (“unsteady, wavering”), from Proto-Indo-European *...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
How does the initial consonant in “Jupiter” and “Zeus” come from the “d” in PIE “*dyew-”?
Jupiter, is from Proto-Indo-European *dyew- (“sky”) (whence also Latin diēs).
Cognate with Ancient Greek Ζεύς (Zeus), Hittite 𒅆𒍑 (sius), Sanskrit द्यु (dyú). The nominative Iuppiter comes from ...
4
votes
1answer
261 views
Could the *-trom ending in PIE be a zero-grade from agent suffix *-ter-/-tor-?
Given the agent suffix -ter- (which exhibited e-grade when meaning a profession or purpose and o-grade when meaning the recent perpetrator), can -trom suffix also be a zero grade from this one plus ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Indo-European prepositions: why prepositions?
In a related but different question to Indo-European prepositions: whence did they come?, why do just about all modern Indo-European languages have prepositions rather than postpositions?
PIE is ...
4
votes
0answers
510 views
PIE Aspect: (Im)perfective or (Non-)progressive?
According to Wikipedia Proto-Indo-European had four tense-aspects, the first being stative and the latter three being eventive: stative aspect, perfective aspect, and past and present tense of ...
7
votes
3answers
694 views
Is there a known rule of correspondence between Latin and Greek *p and *kʷ - in other languages?
It seems to me that some words that have -p- in stem in Latin have clearly reconstructible -ku̯- based on other Indo-European languages. Some examples include
*u̯lpes - *u̯lku̯os ("wolf")
*u̯esper - *...
6
votes
1answer
594 views
Would a Proto language be easy to learn?
Since English descends from Proto-Germanic, which descends from PIE, would either of those two languages be relatively easy to learn (compared to, say, Japanese), or has the language changed too much ...
17
votes
4answers
5k views
4
votes
2answers
647 views
How is the word for “son” reconstructed in PIE?
How is son reconstructed in PIE, sou̯nus or seu̯nus?
Starostin gives contradictory accounts: in Indo-European etymology page he gives the first variant, but on a page for Eurasiatic etymology he ...
3
votes
0answers
182 views
h₂ou̯is or h₃eu̯is
I wonder which variant of reconstruction of this word, meaning "sheep" in PIE is the correct.
Beekes gives *h₃eu̯is, Fortson gives *h₂ou̯is. Both are respected scholars, Fortson's source is the later....
8
votes
3answers
590 views
PIE -enk reflexes in Modern English
I recently found out the origin of the verb 'bring' as being derived from bher- (carry) and enk- (to go to) and how they fused together and came into Germanic as *bhrengk- then coming down into ...
3
votes
2answers
700 views
What caused some IE languages to have consonant inventory sizes different from PIE?
The WALS chapter on consonant inventories shows that the distribution of inventory sizes across languages follows a normal curve, with average size inventories (22 ± 3 consonants) being the most ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Agglutination in Proto-Indo-European
Based on numerous sources, it seems clear that Proto-Indo-European was
Productively agglutinative with non-root morphemes (and perhaps some specific roots that are also able to act like bound ...
3
votes
1answer
274 views
What is the evidence for laryngeal in *méh₂tēr?
Wikitionary shows a PIE word *méh₂tēr but I never seen this word spelled with a laryngeal. There was a long vowel there but how is it correct to analyze it to be *-eh₂- rather than just *ā?
2
votes
1answer
327 views
Origin of *dhvor-
Formerly as I remember I saw somewhere *dhvor- (door, gate, yard, court) connected with the root *vert- (turn) in PIE. This is quite realistic and can be supported with similar Russian words створка (...
3
votes
1answer
689 views
How it happened that evolution of “mater” and “pater” is different despite their similar origin?
With an addition of PIE relatives suffix *-ter-, Eurasiatic *ama, *apa became Old PIE *mā-ter-s, *pa-ter-s (the final -s was later lost in late PIE)
But there is a difference: in Old PIE *māters the "...
6
votes
1answer
518 views
What is the origin of feminine ending *-ia in PIE?
I have seen two versions:
a) *-ia ending actually derived from the collective number form, which also ends in *-ia. So the collective number first started to represent abstract things (compare Latin ...
15
votes
5answers
4k views
What are the reasons to count Armenian as an Indo-European language?
Often I encounter arguments that Armenian is in fact not an Indo-European language. The claims assert that the regular correspondences between Armenian and PIE are too unrealistic, too rare and too ...
19
votes
1answer
858 views
What is the relationship between the PIE roots *dekṃ and *kṃtóm?
It seems that there is a consensus that the PIE roots for ten and hundred are, respectively, *deḱṃ and *ḱṃtóm. There also seems to be a consensus that *ḱṃtóm is a shortened version of *deḱṃtóm. These ...
