Proto-Indo-European
Proto-language (reconstructed) · historical / hidden variety
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family — the most thoroughly reconstructed proto-language in historical linguistics. Hypothesized to have been spoken c. 4500–2500 BCE on the Pontic-Caspian steppe (north of the Black Sea, the Kurgan hypothesis of Marija Gimbutas) by a semi-nomadic pastoralist society. Reconstruction is based on systematic correspondences across daughter languages from Sanskrit to Lithuanian, beginning with William Jones (1786), Bopp, Schleicher (the family-tree model and his reconstructed *fable*), Brugmann and the Neogrammarians (schwa indogermanicum), and de Saussure (coefficients sonantiques, 1878/79, later developed into laryngeal theory). Modern reconstruction posits 3 laryngeals, a vowel system built on *e/*o ablaut (with a marginal, contested *a, and *i/*u analysed as syllabic allophones of the glides *y/*w), and a complex case system.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Proto-Indo-European
Water
*wódr̥
/wódr̩/
Fire
*péh₂wr̥
/péh₂wr̩/
Sun
*sóh₂wl̥
/sóh₂wl̩/
Moon
*méh₁not
/méh₁not/
Star
*h₂stḗr
/hˈsteːr/
Mother
*méh₂tēr
/méh₂teːr/
Father
*ph₂tḗr
/ph₂téːr/
I
*éǵh₂om
/ˈeɡʲhom/
You
*túh₂
/tuːh/
Name
*h₃nómn̥
/hˈnomn̩/
Eye
*h₃ékʷ-
/h₃ékʷ/
Hand
*ǵʰésr̥
/ǵʰésr̩/
Heart
*ḱḗr
/ḱéːr/
Love
*lewbʰ-
/lewbʰ/
Tree
*dóru
/dóru/
House
*dṓm
/dóːm/
Dog
*ḱwṓ
/ḱwóː/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
*h₁ed-
/h₁ed/
Drink
*peh₃-
/peh₃/
One
*h₁óynos
/h₁ójnos/
Two
*dwóh₁
/dwoːh/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
*h₁su-
/h₁su/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Proto-language (reconstructed) languages
| Meaning | Proto-Indo-European | Mycenaean Greek | Oscan | Hittite | Avestan | Faliscan | Scythian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | *wódr̥ /wódr̩/ | 𐀄𐀈 /hudɔːr/ | — /—/ | 𒉿𒀀𒋻 /waːtar/ | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | — /—/ | ap /ap/ |
| Fire | *péh₂wr̥ /péh₂wr̩/ | 𐀢 /pyːr/ | — /—/ | 𒉺𒄩𒄴𒄯 /paxːur/ | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | — /—/ | ātar /aːtar/ |
| Sun | *sóh₂wl̥ /sóh₂wl̩/ | 𐀀𐀸𐀪𐀍 /haːwelios/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | — /—/ | hvar /xʷar/ |
| Moon | *méh₁not /méh₁not/ | 𐀕 /mɛːn/ | — /—/ | 𒀀𒅈𒈠 /arma/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | — /—/ | māh /maːh/ |
| Star | *h₂stḗr /hˈsteːr/ | 𐀀𐀳𐀫 /astɛːr/ | — /—/ | 𒄩𒀸𒋼𒅕 /xaster/ | 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭 /star/ | — /—/ | star /staːr/ |
| Mother | *méh₂tēr /méh₂teːr/ | 𐀔𐀳 /maːtɛːr/ | maatúf /maːtof/ | 𒀭𒈾 /anːa/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | — /—/ | mātar /maːtar/ |
| Father | *ph₂tḗr /ph₂téːr/ | 𐀞𐀳 /patɛːr/ | patír /patiːr/ | 𒀜𒋫 /atːa/ | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | pater /ˈpa.ter/ | pitar /pitar/ |
| I | *éǵh₂om /ˈeɡʲhom/ | 𐀁𐀒 /eɡɔː/ | egom /egom/ | 𒌑𒊌 /uːk/ | 𐬀𐬰𐬆𐬨 /azəm/ | eko /ˈeko/ | azu /azu/ |
| You | *túh₂ /tuːh/ | 𐀶 /tuː/ | tú /tuː/ | 𒍣𒅅 /tsik/ | 𐬙𐬏𐬨 /tuːm/ | tu /tuː/ | tu /tuː/ |
| Name | *h₃nómn̥ /hˈnomn̩/ | 𐀃𐀜𐀔 /onoma/ | númen /nuːmen/ | 𒆷𒀀𒈠𒀭 /laːman/ | 𐬥𐬁𐬨𐬀𐬥 /naːman/ | nomen /ˈnomen/ | nama /naːma/ |
| Eye | *h₃ékʷ- /h₃ékʷ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𒊭𒆪𒉿 /ʃakuwa/ | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | — /—/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ |
| Hand | *ǵʰésr̥ /ǵʰésr̩/ | 𐀐𐀁 /kʰɛːr/ | manim /manim/ | 𒆠𒅖𒊭𒅈 /kesːar/ | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | — /—/ | zasta /zasta/ |
| Heart | *ḱḗr /ḱéːr/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𒆗𒁕 /kard/ | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | — /—/ | zard- /zard/ |
| Love | *lewbʰ- /lewbʰ/ | 𐀠𐀫 /pʰilos/ | — /—/ | 𒀸𒅆𒅀𒀭 /asːijant/ | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | *dóru /dóru/ | 𐀈𐀬 /doru/ | — /—/ | 𒋫𒊒 /taru/ | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | *dṓm /dóːm/ | 𐀺𐀂𐀒 /woikos/ | trííbúm /triːbom/ | 𒉺𒅕 /per/ | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | *ḱwṓ /ḱwóː/ | 𐀓𐀺 /kuwɔːn/ | — /—/ | 𒆪𒉿𒀭 /kuwan/ | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | — /—/ | spaka /spaka/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | *h₁ed- /h₁ed/ | 𐀁𐀈𐀕𐀙 /edmenai/ | — /—/ | 𒅕𒀀𒀜 /eːd/ | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | — /—/ | xwartan /xʷartan/ |
| Drink | *peh₃- /peh₃/ | 𐀡𐀜 /piːnɔː/ | — /—/ | 𒅔𒆪 /eku/ | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | pipafo /ˈpi.pa.foː/ | — /—/ |
| One | *h₁óynos /h₁ójnos/ | 𐀁 /hen/ | — /—/ | 𒀸 /as/ | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | oinos /ˈoi̯.nos/ | aiwa /aiwa/ |
| Two | *dwóh₁ /dwoːh/ | 𐀉𐀺 /duwoː/ | dús /duːs/ | 𒁕𒀀 /daː/ | 𐬛𐬬𐬀 /dva/ | duo /ˈduo/ | duva /duva/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | *h₁su- /h₁su/ | 𐀀𐀏𐀳 /aɡatʰos/ | — /—/ | 𒀸𒋗 /asːu/ | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | — /—/ | vohu /wohu/ |
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