Proto-Indo-European particles
The particles of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages. They have long been ignored by Indo-Europeanists, who are generally interested only in nouns and verbs. The following article makes no reference to the new standard treatment, George Dunkel's Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme (see the References), which presents the material for the first time in a systematic manner. Among other things, it proves that almost all of the laryngeals cited below must be deleted.
Adverbs
Adverbs used as adpositions
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, Germanic, Indo-Iranian and Sabellic; Latin and Greek preserve postpositions vestigially.[1]
Reflexes, or descendants of the PIE reconstructed forms in its daughter languages, include the following.
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *h₂epo / h₂po / apo | from | Ved. ápa "away, forth", Gk. apó, Lat. ab "from", Alb. pa "without", Eng. of, off[2], Hitt. āppa, āppan "behind" |
| *h₂ed | to, by, at | Lat. ad, Osc. adpúd, Umb. ař, Goth. at, ON at, Eng. æt/at, Gm. az/--, Ir. ad/do, Welsh add-, at, Gaul. ad, Phryg. addaket, XMK addai[3] |
| *h₂eti | from, back, again | Lat. at, OCS OCS отъ Ir. aith-, Welsh ad- "re-", Toch. A atas, Toch. B ate "away", Gk. atar "however" |
| *h₂en / *h₂enh₃ / *h₂neh₃ | on, upon | Av. ana, Gk. ano, Lat. in (in some cases), ON á, Goth. ana, Eng. an/on, Gm. ?/an, Lith. ant |
| *h₂enti | against, at the end, in front of, before | Gk. anti, Lat. ante, Hitt. hantezzi "first" |
| *h₂eu | off, away, too much, very | Ved. ava, ' Lat. aut, autem, 'Lith. nuo, Eng. of, off[3] |
| *h₂n̥-bʰi / *h₂m̥-bʰi | around[4] (→ both) | Ved. abhi, Av. aiwito, aibi, Pers. abiy/?, Gk. amphi, ON um, Eng. bi/by; ymbi/umbe (obsolete), Gm. umbi/um; ?/bei, Lat. ambi, ambo, Gaul. ambi, Ir. imb/um, Welsh am, Toch. āmpi/?, Alb. mbi, Lith. abu, OCS oba, Russ. ob "about", oba "both"[3] |
| *bʰeǵʰ | without | OCS без, OPruss. bhe, Ved. bahis "from outwards"[3] |
| *de, *do | to | Gk. -de, Eng. to, Gm. zu, Lith. da-, OCS do, PER tâ, Welsh i, Ir. do, Luw. anda, |
| *h₁eǵʰs | out | Lat. ex, Gk. ἐκ (ek)/ἐξ (eks), Gaul. ex-, Ir. ass/as; acht/; echtar, Russ. из (iz), Alb. jashtë, Oscan eh-, Umbrian ehe-, Lith. iš, Ltv. iz, OPruss. is, Welsh ech-[3] |
| *h₁eǵʰs-tos | outside | Gk. ektos[3] |
| *h₁eǵʰs-tro- / *h₁eǵʰs-ter | extra | Lat. extra,[3] Welsh eithr "except, besides" |
| *h₁en | in | Gk. en, Lat. in, Eng. in/in, Gm. in/in, īn/ein-, Ir. i, Welsh yn, Arm. i, Alb. në, OPruss. en, OCS vŭ(n)-,[2]
Luw. anda, Carian nt_a, Goth. in, ON í, Ir. in/i, Lith. į, Ltv. iekšā |
| *h₁en-ter | within, inside | Ved. antár "between", Lat. inter "between, among", Gm. untar/unter "between, among" (see also *n̥dʰ-er below), Ir. eter/idir "between", Cornish ynter, Alb. ndër "between, in",[2] Pers. ændær "inside", SCr. unutar "within" |
| *h₁eti | beyond, over (about quantity), besides | Lat. et, etiam, Gk. ἔτι, οὐκέτι, Ved. अति (ati), Av. aiti, OPruss. et-, at- , Eng. ed-, edgrow, Gaul. eti, t-ic |
| *h₁opi / h₁epi | near, at, upon, by | Ved. ápi "by, on", Gk. epí "on", Lat. ob "on", Arm. ew "and",[2] |
| *h₁neu | without | Khot. anau "without" Osset. aenae Gk. aneu |
| *km̥-th₂ / *km̥-ti | by, along | Hitt. katta "with, down (+Gen)", Gaul. kanta "with", Gk. katá "down"[2][3] Welsh gan |
| *kom | with | Lat. cum, Ir. co/?,[2] Welsh cyf-, Goth. ga- |
| *medʰi | in the middle | Pers., miyan Av. madiiana, Khot. mayana-, Ved. madhyama Lat. medius OPruss. median Goth. miduma "the middle" OCS meždu,[3] Welsh y mewn |
| *n̥dʰ-eri | 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 |
| *ni | down, under | Ved. ní, Eng. ne-ther, Arm. ni, OCS ni-zŭ[2] |
| *nu | now | Hitt. nu, Luw. nanun, Ved. nū, OPers. nūra/?, Pers. æknun/konun/?, Gk. nun, Lat. nunc, ON nū, Goth. nu, Eng. nū/now, Gm. nu/nun, Toch. nuṃ/nano, Lith. nūn, Ltv. nu, OPruss. teinu, OCS нъінѣ (nyne), Alb. tani, Arb. naní (but see the list of conjunctions below) |
| *h₃ebʰi, h₃bʰi | towards, into, at | OCS объ[3] |
| *pe | with, together | Hitt. pe- |
| *per(i) | around, through | Ved. pári "around, forth", Gk. perí "around", Lat. per "through", OPruss. per, Alb. për,[2] Russ. pere- "through, over" |
| *per / *pero / *prō | before, forth, in front of, ahead of | Hitt. pēran "before", prā "toward", Ved. prā, Lat. per, prō, Eng. for/fore-, Gm. ?/vor, Welsh rhy, rhag, er, Lith. per, pro, Alb. para, Pers. pær-/pæri-/par-, Russ. pered |
| *pos | after | Ved. pascat, Lat. post, Lith. paskui[5] |
| *r̥ / *rō / *rō-dʰi | for (enclitic), for the purpose of | Ved. r̥ OCS ради |
| *trh₂os | through | Ved. tiras, Lat. trāns, Eng. through, OIr. tar,[5] Welsh tra |
| *uper | above | Ved. upári, Gk. hupér, Lat. s-uper, Eng. over, Ir. for/fara, Welsh gor-, gwar- Arm. (i) ver "up",[2] Alb. sipër, Gm. über |
| *up / *upo | under, below | Ved. úpa "up to", Gk. hupó "below", Lat. s-ub, Ir. fo/faoi,[2] Welsh go-, gwa-
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 |
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
Negating prefixes (privatives)
Two privatives can be reconstructed, *ne and *mē, the latter only used for negative commands. The privative 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,[6]
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 |
| *n̥- | privative prefix | Hitt. am-, Ved. a(n)-, Gk. a(n)-, Lat. in-, Alb. e-, Eng. un-,[6] Gm. un- |
| *mā | negator for commands | Ved. mā, Per ma-, Gk. mē (Doric mā)[6]
Alb. mos |
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.[7]
Conjunctions
The following conjunctions can be reconstructed:[8]
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *kʷe | and, word or phrase connector† | Hitt. -ku, Ved. ca, Av. ca, Gk. te, kai, Lat. -que, Celtib. kue, Per ke |
| *wē | or, word or phrase disjunctor† | Ved. vā, Gk. -(w)ē, Lat. -ve |
| *de | and, sentence connector | Gk. dé, Alb. dhe, Russ. da "and" |
| *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.
Interjections
There is only one PIE interjection that can be securely reconstructed; the second is uncertain.
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| *wai! | expression of woe or agony | Hitt. uwai, Lat. vae, Welsh gwae, Breton gwa, Eng. woe, ON. vei, Pers. vai, Kurd. wai, Ved. uvē, Gk. aī, aī aī (woe!, alas!), Lith. vajé, Ltv. ai, vai |
| *ō! / *eh₃! (?) | oh! | Gk. ō, Lat. ō, Eng. oh!, Gm. oh!, Russ. o!,[9] Pers. e! |
Notes
- Fortson (2004:133–4)
- Fortson (2004:134)
- Blažek : Indo-European Prepositions and Related Words (2005)
- Fortson (2004:239)
- Beekes
- Fortson (2004:133)
- Fortson (2004:132–3)
- Fortson (2004:134–5)
- Schenk (1998:)
References
- Dunkel, George E (2014), Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme, Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, ISBN 978-3-8253-5926-3
- Fortson, Benjamin W., IV (2004), Indo-European Language and Culture, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 1-4051-0316-7