Proto-Indo-European particle
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The particles of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages. The following article lists and discusses their hypothesized forms.
Contents |
[edit] Adverbs
[edit] Adverbs used as postpositions and prepositions
Many particles could be used both as adverbs and postpositions. This is similar to modern languages; compare English He is above in the attic (adverb) and The bird is above the house (preposition). The postpositions became prepositions in the daughter languages except Anatolian, Indo-Iranian and Sabellic, and vestigially in Latin and Greek.[1]
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *apo | from | Ved. ápa "away, forth", Gk. apó, Lat. ab "from", Eng. of, off[2] |
| *epi / *opi | near, at, upon, by | Ved. ápi "by, on", Gk. epí "on", Lat. ob "on", Arm. ew "and",[2]
Av. aipi, Lith. api-, apie, Alb. afër "near"[citation needed] |
| *h₁ad | to, by, at | Lat. ad, Osc. adpúd, Umb. ař, Goth. at, ON at, Eng. æt/at, Gm. az/--, Ir. ad/ad, Welsh add, Gaul. ad, Phryg. addaket, XMK addai[citation needed] |
| *(h₁?)en | in | Gk. en, Lat. in, Eng. in/in, Gm. in/in, īn/ein-, Welsh yn, Arm. i, Alb. në, OPruss. en, OCS vŭ(n)-,[2]
Luw. anda, Carian nt_a, Goth. in, ON í, Ir. in/in, Lith. į, Ltv. iekšā[citation needed] |
| *(h₁?)en-ter | within, inside | Ved. antár "between", Lat. inter "between, among", Gm. untar/unter "between, among" (see also *n̥dʰ-er below), Ir. eter/? "between", Alb. ndër "between, in"[2] |
| *h₂en / *h₂eno | on, upon | Av. ana, Gk. ano, Lat. in (in some cases), ON á, Goth. ana, Eng. an/on, Gm. ?/an, Lith. ant[citation needed] |
| *h₂euo | off, away, down from | Ved. ava, Lith. nuo[citation needed] |
| *h₂n̥-bʰi / *h₂m̥-bʰi | around[3] (→ both) | Ved. abhi, Av. aiwito, aibi, Pers. abiy/?, Gk. amphi, ON um, Eng. bi/by; ymbi/umbe (obsolete), Gm. umbi/um; ?/bei, Gaul. ambi, Ir. imb/um, Welsh am, Toch. āmpi/?,Alb. mbi, Lith. abu, OCS oba, Russ. ob[citation needed] |
| *kata / *km̥ta | down | Hitt. katta "with",Gaul. kanta "with", Gk. katá "down"[2] |
| *kom | with | Lat. cum, Ir. co/?[2] |
| *n̥dʰ-er | under | Ved. adhás, Av. aδairi, Lat. īnfr-ā, Eng. under/under, Arm. ənd,[2]
Pers. ?/zēr, ON und, Goth. undar, Gm. untar/unter, Arm. ĕndhup/ĕnthub[citation needed] |
| *ni | down, under | Ved. ní, Eng. ne-ther, Arm. ni, OCS ni-zŭ[2] |
| *nu | now | Hitt. nu, Luw. nanun, Ved. nū, Pers. nūra/?, Gk. nun, Lat. nunc, ON nū, Goth. nu, Eng. nū/now, Gm. nu/nun, Toch. nuṃ/nano, Lith. nū, Ltv. nu, OPruss. teinu, OCS nu,Alb. tani, Arb. naní[citation needed] (but see the list of conjunctions below) |
| *pe | with, together | Hitt. pe-[citation needed] |
| *per(i) | around, through | Ved. pári "around, forth", Gk. perí "around", Lat. per "through", OPruss. per, Alb. për[2] |
| *per / *pero / *prō | before, forth, in front of, ahead of | Hitt. per, Ved. prā, Lat. per, prō, Eng. for/fore-, Gm. ?/vor, Lith. per, pro[citation needed], Alb. para |
| *r̥ | for (enclitic) | Ved. r̥[citation needed] |
| *uper | above | Ved. upári, Gk. hupér, Lat. s-uper, Eng. over, Ir. for/?, Arm. (i) ver "up"[2]
Alb. sipër |
| *up / *upo | under, below | Ved. úpa "up to", Gk. hupó "below", Lat. s-ub, Ir. fo/fo,[2]
Hitt. upzi, Av. upa, Pers. upa/?, Umb. sub, Osc. sup, ON upp, Goth. iup, Eng. upp/up, Gm. uf/auf, Welsh go, Gaul. voretus, Toch. ?/spe, Lith. po[citation needed] |
Untranslated reflexes have the same meaning as the PIE word.
In the following languages, two reflexes separated by a slash mean:
- English: Old English / Modern English
- German: Old High German / New High German
- Irish: Old Irish / Modern Irish
- Persian: Old Persian / Modern Persian
- Tocharian: Tocharian A / Tocharian B
[edit] Negators
Two negators can be reconstructed, *ne and *mē, the latter only used for negative commands. The so-called pivative prefix *n̥- is likely the zero grade of *ne.
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *ne | sentence negator | Ved. ná, Lat. nē/ne-, Eng. ne/no, Gm. ne/nein, Lith. nè, OCS ne,[4]
Hitt. natta, Luw. ni-, Lyc. ni-, Lyd. ni-, Av. na, Pers. na/?, Gk. ne-, Osc. ne, Umb. an-, ON né, Goth. ni, Ir. ní/ní, Welsh ni, Arm. an-, Toch. an-/en-, Ltv. ne, OPruss. ne, Pol. nie, Russ. ne, net, Alb. nuk[citation needed] |
| *n̥- | privative prefix | Hitt. am-, Ved. a(n)-, Gk. a(n)-, Lat. in-, Eng. un-[4] |
| *mē | negator for commands | Ved. mā, Gk. mē[4]
Alb. mos |
[edit] Adverbs derived from adjectives
Adverbs derived from adjectives (like English bold-ly, beautiful-ly) arguably cannot be classified as particles. In Proto-Indo-European, these are simply case forms of adjectives and thus better classified as nouns. An example is *meǵh₂ "greatly", a nominative-accusative singular.[5]
[edit] Conjunctions
The following conjunctions can be reconstructed:[6]
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *kʷe | and, word or phrase connector† | Hitt. -ku, Ved. ca, Av. ca, Gk. te, Lat. -que, Celtib. kue |
| *wē | or, word or phrase disjunctor† | Ved. vā, Gk. -(w)ē, Lat. -ve |
| *de | and, sentence connector | Gk. dé, Alb. dhe |
| *nu | and, sentence connector | Hitt. nu, Ved. nú, Gk. nú, Toch. ?/nu, Ir. no-/?, OCS nŭ (but see the adverbs above) |
†Placed after the joined word, as in Latin Senatus populus-que Romanus ("Senate and people of Rome"), -que joining senatus and populus.
[edit] Interjections
There is only one PIE interjection which can be securely reconstructed, the second is tentative:[6]
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *wai! | expression of woe or agony | Hitt. uwai, Lat. vae, Welsh gwae, Eng. woe |
| *ō! / *eh₃! (?) | oh! | Gk. ō[7], Lat. ō[8], Eng. oh!, Gm. oh!, Russ. o![9] |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Fortson (2004:133–4)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Fortson (2004:134)
- ^ Fortson (2004:239)
- ^ a b c Fortson (2004:133)
- ^ Fortson (2004:132–3)
- ^ a b Fortson (2004:134–5)
- ^ Schäfer & Zimmermann (1990:457)
- ^ Petschenig (1994:339)
- ^ Schenk (1998:[page needed])
[edit] References
- Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004), Indo-European Language and Culture, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 1-4051-0316-7
- Petschenig, M (1994) (in German), Der kleine Stowasser, Vienna: Oldenbourg Schulbuchverlag, ISBN 3486134051
- Schäfer, K-H; Zimmermann, B (1990) (in German), Taschenwörterbuch Altgriechisch (3 ed.), Munich: Langenscheidt, ISBN 3-468-10031-0
- Schenk, W (1998) (in German), Handwörterbuch Russisch, Munich: Langenscheidt, ISBN 3468072910
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