Proto-Indo-European pronouns
Pronouns in the theorized common ancestor of the Indo-European language family
Proto-Indo-European pronouns have been reconstructed by modern linguists, based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages . This article lists and discusses the hypothesised forms.
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) pronouns , especially demonstrative pronouns , are difficult to reconstruct because of their variety in later languages.
Grammatical categories
PIE pronouns inflected for case and number , and partly for gender . For more information on these categories, see the article on Proto-Indo-European nominals .
Personal pronouns
PIE had personal pronouns in the first and second person , but not the third person, where demonstratives were used instead. They were inflected for case and number (singular, dual , and plural ), but not for gender. The personal pronouns had their own unique forms and endings, and some had two distinct stems ; this is most obvious in the first person singular, where the two stems are still preserved, as for instance in English I and me . There were also two varieties for the accusative, genitive and dative cases, a stressed and an enclitic form. Many of the special pronominal endings were later borrowed as nominal endings.
The following tables give the paradigms as reconstructed by Beekes[1] and by Sihler.[2]
Beekes' reconstruction of PIE personal pronouns
First person
Second person
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Nominative
*h₁eǵ(oH/Hom)
*uei
*tuH
*iuH
Accusative
stressed
*h₁mé
*nsmé
*tué
*usmé
enclitic
*h₁me
*nōs
*te
*uōs
Genitive
stressed
*h₁méne
*ns(er)o-
*teue
*ius(er)o-
enclitic
*h₁moi
*nos
*toi
*uos
Dative
stressed
*h₁méǵʰio
*nsmei
*tébʰio
*usmei
enclitic
*h₁moi
*ns
*toi
?
Instrumental
*h₁moí
?
*toí
?
Ablative
*h₁med
*nsmed
*tued
*usmed
Locative
*h₁moí
*nsmi
*toí
*usmi
Sihler's reconstruction of PIE personal pronouns
First person
Second person
Singular
Dual
Plural
Singular
Dual
Plural
Nominative
*eǵoH
*weh₁
*we-i
*tī̆ (*tū̆)
*yuh₁ (*yūh₁?)
*yūs (*yuHs?)
Accusative
tonic
*m-mé (> *mé)
*n̥h₁-wé
*n̥smé
*twé
*uh₁-wé
*usmé
enclitic
*me
*nō̆h₁
*nō̆s
*te
*wō̆h₁
*wō̆s
Genitive
tonic
*mé-me
*n̥sóm
*té-we
*usóm
enclitic
*mos (adj. )
*nō̆s
*tos (adj. )
*wō̆s
Dative
tonic
*mébhi
*n̥sm-éy
*tébhi
*usm-éy
enclitic
*mey, *moy?
*nō̆s
*tey, *toy
*wō̆s
Ablative
*mm-ét (> *mét)
*n̥sm-ét
*tw-ét
*usm-ét
Other reconstructions typically differ only slightly from Beekes and Sihler (see for example Fortson 2004[3] ).
Demonstrative pronouns
As for demonstratives , Beekes[4] tentatively reconstructs a system with only two pronouns: *so "this, that" and *h₁e "the (just named)" (anaphoric , reconstructed as *ei- by Fortson[5] ). He gives the following paradigms:
Demonstrative pronouns (Beekes)
Singular
Plural
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Nominative
*so
*tod
*seh₂
*toi
*teh₂
*seh₂i??
Accusative
*tóm
*teh₂m
*tons
*teh₂ns
Genitive
*(to)sio
*(t)eseh₂s
*tesom?
*tesom?
Ablative
*tosmōd
*toios?
Dative
*tosmōi
*tesieh₂ei
*toimus
*teh₂mus?
Locative
*tosmi
*tesieh₂i
*toisu
*teh₂su?
Instrumental
*toi?
*toi?
*toibʰi
*teh₂bʰi?
Nominative
*h₁e
*(h₁)id
*(h₁)ih₂
*h₁ei
*ih₂
*ih₂es
Accusative
*im
*ih₂m
*ins
*ih₂ns
Genitive
*h₁éso
*h₁eseh₂s?
*h₁es(om)
Ablative
*h₁esmōd
*h₁eios?
Dative
*h₁esmōi
*h₁esieh₂ei
*h₁eimus
Locative
*h₁esmi
*h₁esieh₂i
*h₁eisu
Instrumental
*h₁ei?
*h₁eibʰi
Beekes also postulates three adverbial particles, from which demonstratives were constructed in various later languages:
*ḱi "here" (reconstructed as a demonstrative *ḱi- "this" by Fortson[5]
*h₂en "there" and
*h₂eu "away, again",
Demonstrative pronouns (Sihler)
Singular
Plural
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Nominative
*so
*tod
*seh₂, *sih₂
*toy
*teh₂
*teh₂s
Accusative
*tom
*teh₂m
*toms
*teh₂ms
Genitive
*tosyo
*tosyeh₂s
*toysō̆m
*teh₂sō̆m
Ablative
*tosmōd
*tosyeh₂s
*toybʰ-
*teh₂bʰ-
Dative
*tosmey
*tosyeh₂ey
*toybʰ-
*teh₂bʰ-
Locative
*tosmi
?
*toysu
*teh₂su
Instrumental
?
?
?
?
Nominative
*is
*id
*ih₂
*eyes
*ih₂
*ih₂es
Accusative
*im
*ih₂m
*ins
*ih₂ms
Genitive
*esyo
*esyeh₂s
*eysom
Ablative
*esmod
*esyeh₂s
*eybʰ-
Dative
*esmey
*esyeh₂ey
*eybʰ-
Locative
*esmi
?
*eysu
Instrumental
?
?
Reflexive pronoun
A third-person reflexive pronoun *s(w)e- , parallel to the first and second person singular personal pronouns, also existed, though it lacked a nominative form:
Reflexive pronoun (Beekes)[6]
Accusative
*se
Genitive
*seue, *sei
Dative
*sebʰio, *soi
Relative pronoun
PIE had a relative pronoun with the stem *(H)yo- .[7]
Interrogative/indefinite pronoun
There was also a pronoun with the stem *kʷe- / *kʷi- (adjectival *kʷo- ) used both as an interrogative and an indefinite pronoun .[5] [8]
Interrogative pronoun (Sihler[9] )
Pronominal
Adjectival
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Masc./Fem.
Neuter
Masc./Fem.
Neuter
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Masculine
Neuter
Feminine
Nominative
*kʷis
*kʷid
*kʷeyes
*kʷih₂
*kʷos
*kʷod
*kʷeh₂
*kʷoy
*kʷeh₂
*kʷeh₂(e)s
Accusative
*kʷim
*kʷims
*kʷom
*kʷeh₂m
*kʷoms
*kʷeh₂ms
Dative
*kʷesmey
*kʷeybh-
*kʷosmey
?
?
Genitive
*kʷesyo
*kʷeysom
*kʷosyo
?
?
Locative
*kʷesmi
*kʷeysu
?
?
?
Pronominal adjectives
Proto-Indo-European possessed few adjectives that had a distinct set of endings, identical to those of the demonstrative pronoun above but differing from those of regular adjectives.[10] They included at least *ályos "other, another"[5] (or *h₂élyos ?).
Reflexes
Reflexes , or descendants of the PIE reconstructed forms in its daughter languages, include the following.
Type
Reconstruction
Reflexes
1st sg. nom.
*eǵoH
Hitt. ūk, Ved. ahám, Av. azəm, Gk. ἐγω(ν) , Lat. ego, Goth. ik,[11]
Eng. I, Gm. ich, Du. ik,
Alb. u-në,
Bulg. аз\az, Russ. я\ja,
Kamviri õc, Carian uk, Osset. æz/æz, Umb. eho, ON ek, Lith. aš, Venet. ego[citation needed ]
1st sg. oblique
*me
Ved. mām, Av. mąm, Gk. ἐμέ , Lat. mē,[11]
Eng. mec/me, Gm. mih/mich, Du. mij,
Osset. /Pers. mæn, Umb. mehe, Ir. mé, Welsh mi, Russ. mne, Alb. mua, Venet. mego[citation needed ]
1st pl. nom.
*we-i
Hitt. wēš, Ved. vayám, Av. vaēm, Goth. wit (dual ), weis, Toch. was/wes,[11]
Eng. we, Gm. wir, Du. wij,
Pers. vayam/?, ON vér, Lith. vedu[citation needed ]
1st pl. oblique
*nō̆s
Hitt. anzāš, Gk. νώ (dual ), Lat. nōs, Goth. uns, Toch. ñäś (sg. ),[11]
Gm. uns, Eng. us, Du. ons,
Skr. nas, Av. nō, Pers. amaxām/?, ON oss, okkr, Old Ir. ni, Welsh ni, OPruss. noūson, Lith. nuodu, Pol. , Russ. nas, Alb. ne[citation needed ]
2nd sg.
*tī̆ (*tū̆) / *te
Hitt. zīk, Ved. tvám, Av. tū, Gk. σύ , Doric τύ , Lat. tū, Goth. þu, Toch. tu/tuwe, OCS ty[12]
Gm. du, Eng. thou,
Pers. tuva/to, Osset. dy, Kashmiri tsū', Kamviri tü, Umb. tu, tui, Osc. tuvai, ON þú, Ir. tú/thú, Welsh ti, Arm. tu/du, OPruss. toū, Pol. ty, Russ. ty, Lith. tu, Ltv. tu, Alb. ti[citation needed ]
2nd pl. nom.
*yū(H)s
Ved. yūyám, Av. yūš, Gk. ὑμεῖς , Goth. jūs, Toch. yas/yes,[12]
Eng. gē/ye; ēow/you, Gm. ir/ihr, Du. jij / gij,
ON ykkr, yðr, Arm. dzez/dzez/cez, OPruss. ioūs, Lith. jūs, Ltv. jūs, Alb. juve, ju[citation needed ]
2nd pl. oblique
*wō̆s
Lat. vōs,[12]
Skr. vas, Av. vō, Umb. uestra, OPruss. wans, Pol. wy, was, Russ. vy, vas,[citation needed ] Alb. u
Demonstrative ("this, that")
*so (m), *se-h₂ (f), *to-d (n)
Ved. sá, sā, tád, Av. hō, hā, tat̰, Gk. ὁ, ἡ, τό , Goth. sa, so, þata, Icel. sá, sú, það, TochB. se, sā, te[5]
Old Eng. se, seo, thæt, Russ. tot, ta, to[citation needed ]
Demonstrative ("the just named; this")
*h₁e / *ei-
Ved. ay-ám, id-ám, Av. īm "him", Lat. is, ea, id, Alb. aì (he, that), ajò (she, that), Goth. is "he"[5]
Skr. it[citation needed ]
Demonstrative / adverbial particle
*ḱi(-)
Lat. cis, Eng. he, Gm. heute "on this day, today", OCS sĭ, Lith. šìs,[5]
ON hér, Goth. hita, Eng. it, Gm. hier, Russ. sije[citation needed ]
Reflexive
*s(w)e-
Ved. sva-yám, Av. xᵛāi, Gk. ἑ- , Lat. sē, sibi, suus, Old Ir. fa(-dessin), Ir. féin, OCS sę,[5]
Gm. sih/sich, sin/sein, Du. zich, zijn
Carian sfes, Lyd. śfa-, Osc. sífeí, Umb. seso, ON sik, sinn, Goth. sik, Arm. ink῾s, OPruss. sien, sin, Lith. savo, Latv. sevi, Russ. sebe, -sja, Alb. vetë, u, Phryg. ve[citation needed ]
Relative
*(H)yo-
Ved. yá-, Av. ya-, Gk. ὅ- , Proto-Celtic *yo-[5]
Interrogative pronoun
*kʷi-s (m, f), *kʷi-d (n)
Hitt. kuiš, Luw. kuiš, Gk. τίς , Lat. quis, quid, Ir. cia, Eng. hwī/–, OCS čĭto[5]
Lyc. tike, Lyd. qi-, Osset. či, Pers. čiy/ki, Osc. pisi, Umb. púí, svepis, ON hverr, Welsh pwi,[citation needed ] Russ. kto, čto, Alb. çë
Interrogative adjective
*kʷo-s (m), *kʷe-h₂ (f), *kʷo-d (n)
Ved. kás, Av. kō, Gk. ποῦ "where?", pōs "somehow", Goth. ƕas , Lith. kàs, OCS kŭto[5]
Eng. hwā/who; hwæt/what, Gm. hwër/wer, Du. wie / wat,
Carian kuo, Kashmiri kus, Kamviri kâča, Lat. qui, quae, quod; Arm. ov, inč῾, Toch. kus/kŭse, Ltv. kas, Pol. kto, Russ. kto, Alb. ku, kush, Phryg. kos[citation needed ]
"(an)other"
*alyo-
Gk. ἄλλος , Lat. alius, Goth. aljis, Ir. ail/eile, Toch. ālak/alyek,[5]
Gm. eli-lenti "in another land, expelled" / elend "miserable, wretched",[13] Eng. elles/else,
Lyd. aλaś, Skr. araṇa, Osc. allo, ON elligar, Gaul. alla, Arm. ayl[citation needed ]
In the following languages, two reflexes separated by a slash mean:
Notes
References
Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011), Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction , ISBN 978-90-272-1185-9
Fortson, Benjamin W. IV (2004), Indo-European Language and Culture , Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 1-4051-0316-7
Grebe, Paul (1963), Duden Etymologie (in German), Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, ISBN 3-411-00907-1
Ringe, Don (2006), A Linguistic History of English part 1: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic
Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin , Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508345-8
External links
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