Proto-Indo-European pronouns and particles

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Proto-Indo-European pronouns and particles have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages. The following article lists and discusses their hypothesized forms.

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PIE pronouns are difficult to reconstruct due to their variety in later languages. This is especially the case for demonstrative pronouns.

PIE had personal pronouns in the first and second person, but not the third person, where demonstratives were used instead. 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 in English I and me. According to Beekes (1995), there were also two varieties for the accusative, genitive and dative cases, a stressed and an enclitic form.

Personal pronouns (Beekes 1995)
First person Second person
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative h₁eǵ(oH/Hom) uei tuH iuH
Accusative h₁mé, h₁me nsmé, nōs tué usmé, uōs
Genitive h₁méne, h₁moi ns(er)o-, nos teue, toi ius(er)o-, uos
Dative h₁méǵʰio, h₁moi nsmei, ns tébʰio, toi usmei
Instrumental h₁moí  ? toí  ?
Ablative h₁med nsmed tued usmed
Locative h₁moí nsmi toí usmi

Sihler (1995) reconstructs the paradigm somewhat differently:

Personal pronouns (Sihler 1995)
First person Second person
Singular Dual Plural Singular Dual Plural
'Nom.' eǵoH weH₁ we-i tī̆ (tū̆) yuH₁ (?yūH₁) yūs (?yuHs)
Acc. tonic **m-mé (> *mé) n̥H₁-wé n̥smé twé uH₁-wé usmé
Acc. enclitic me nō̆H₁ nō̆s te wō̆H₁ wō̆s
Gen. tonic mé-me   n̥sóm té-we   usóm
Gen. enclitic mos (adj.) nō̆s tos (adj.) wō̆s
Dat. tonic mébhi n̥sm-éy tébhi usm-éy
Dat. enclitic mey, ?moy nō̆s tey, toy wō̆s
Ablative **mm-ét (> ^mét) n̥sm-ét tw-ét usm-ét

A third-person reflexive pronoun se (acc.), sewe, sei (gen.), sébʰio, soi (dat.), parallel to the first and second person singular personal pronouns, also existed, as well as possessive pronominal adjectives.

As for demonstratives, Beekes (1995) tentatively reconstructs a system with only two pronouns: so/seh₂/tod "this, that" and h₁e/ (h₁)ih₂/(h₁)id "the (just named)" (anaphoric). He gives the following paradigms:

Demonstrative pronouns (Beekes 1995)
Singular Plural
Masculine Neutre Feminine Masculine Neutre 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 id 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

Many of the special pronominal endings of these paradigms were later borrowed as nominal endings.

Beekes also postulates three adverbial particles ḱi "here", h₂en "there" and h₂eu "away, again", from which demonstratives were constructed in various later languages.

There was also an interrogative/indefinite pronoun with the stem kʷe-/kʷi- (adjectival kʷo-), and probably a relative pronoun with the stem yo-.

Interrogative pronouns (Sihler 1995)
Pronominal Adjectival
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Masc./fem. Neutre Masc./fem. Neutre Masculine Neutre Feminine Masculine Neutre 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

Type Stem Derivatives
1st sg *H₁eǵ-ō / *H₁eǵ-om / *H₁eǵ Umbrian eho, Eng. Ic/I, Russ. ja, Gk. egō, Gm. ih/Ich, Kamviri õc, Hitt. uk, Carian uk, Goth. ik, ON ek, Skr. aham, Av. azəm, Lith. aš, Venetic ego, Lat. ego, Osset æz/æz
1st sg oblique *me Alb. mua, Lat. me, Umbrian mehe, Engl. mec/me, Gm. mih/mich, Ir. mé/mé, Gr. eme, Russ. mne, Skt. mam, Av. mam, Welsh mi, Venetic mego, Osset mæn/
2nd sg *tu Arm. tu/du, Alb. ti, Lith. tu, Ltv. tu, Lat. tū, Gm. thu/du, Eng. þu/thou, Gk. su, Hitt. tuk, Av. tū, Ir. tú/tú, Kashmiri tsū', Kamviri tü, Umbrian tu;tui, Oscan tuvai, Old Prussian toū, Osset. dy/, Pers. tuva/to, Russ. ty, Skr. tvam, Toch. tu/tuwe, Goth. þu, Welsh ti, ON þú, Polish ty, Old Church Slavonic ty
1st pl *weis / *wei / *we Eng. wē/we, Gm. wir/wir, Hitt. wēs, Goth. wit;weis, ON vit;vér, Lith. vedu, Skr. vayam, Pers. vayam/, Toch. was/wes, Av. vaēm
1st pl enclitic *n̥s / *nos Alb. ne, Gm. unish/uns, Eng. uncer/us, Hitt. anzās, Goth. unsar; ugkis, ON oss; okkr, Polish nas, Russ. nas, Skr. nas, Lat. nōs, Av. nō, Pers. amaxām/, Gk. no, Ir. ni, Welsh ni, Toch. nás, Lith. nuodu, Old Prussian noūson, Hitt. anzās
2nd pl *wos / *us Umbrian uestra, Russ. vy; vas Polish wy; was, Skr. vas, Av. vō, Lat. vōs, Old Prussian wans
2nd pl *yus / *yu Eng. gē/ye; ēow/you, Gm. ir/ihr, Goth. jus, ON ykkr;yðr, Skr. yūyam, Av. yūžəm, Gk. humeis, Lith. jūs, Ltv. jūs, Old Prussian ioūs, Toch. yas/yes, Arm. dzez/dzez/cez
interrogative *kʷi-s / *kʷo-s (m), *kʷi-H₂ / *kʷe-H₂ (f), *kʷi-d / *kʷo-d (n) Lat. qui; quae; quod; quis; quid, Arm. ov; inč', Alb. kush, Lith. kas, Ltv. kas, Eng. hwā/who, Gm. hwër/wer, Phryg. kos, Gk. tis, Hitt. kuiš, Lyc. tike, Carian kuo, Luw. kui-, Lyd. qi-, Av. ko, Ir. cid/cía, Kashmiri kus, Kamviri kâča, Osset. či, Pers. čiy/ki, Russ. kto, Skr. ka, Toch. kus/kŭse, Goth. ƕas, Welsh pwi, ON hverr, Polish kto, Oscan pisi, Umbrian púí; svepis
relative *yo-}}
demonstrative / 3rd sg i-, *i-d (n.) Lat. is, ea, id, Skt. it
distal demonstrative *so (m), *se-H₂ (f), *to-d (n) Old Eng. se, seo, thæt, Russ. to
proximal demonstrative *ko-s (m), *ko-H₂ (f), *ko-d (n) Lat. cis, Eng. hit/it; he/he, Goth. hita, Gm. hiar/hier, ON hér, Russ. eto
reflexive *swe Carian sfes, Lyd. śfa-, OPruss. sien; sin, Lith. savo, Latv sevi, Gm. sih/sich;sin/sein, Goth. sik, Gk. heos, Skt. sva, OCS se, Phryg. ve, ON sik; sinn, Alb. vetë, Lat. sē;sibi;suus, Oscan sífeí, Umbrian seso, Av. hva, Arm. ink's, Russ. sebe;-sja
"another" *H₂el-yó/nó}} Lat. alius, Engl. elles/else, Skt. araa, Gr. allos, Oscan allo, Toch ālak/allek, Arm. ayl, Gaul. alla, Ir. aile/eile, Goth. alijs, Gm. elilenti/elend, Lyd. aλaś, ON elligar

particle meaning derivatives
*H₁en in Gk. en, Eng. in/in, Gm. in/in; īn/ein-, Lat. in, ON í, Goth. in, Welsh yn, Ir. in/in, Lith. į, Ltv. iekšā, Old Prussian en, Luw. anda, Carian nt_a
*epi / *opi near, at Gk. epi-, Skr. api, Lat. ab, Av. aipi, Arm. ev, Lith. api-; apie
*pe with, together Hitt. pe-
*r̥ Enclitic "for" Skr.
*nu now Alb. tani, Lith. nū, Ltv. nu, Gm. nu/nun, Lat. nunc, Eng. nū/now, Gk. nu/, Hitt. nu, Luw. nanun, ON nū, Pers. nūra/, Old Prussian teinu, Skr. nū, Toch. nu/nano, Goth. nu, Old Church Slavonic nu
*ne, *nei negative particle Alb. nuk, Arm. an-, Av. na, Lith. ne, Ltv. ne, Eng. ne/no, Gm. ne/nein, Goth. ni, Gk. ne-, Hitt. natta, Ir. ní/ní, Lat. nē, Luw. ni-, Lyc. ni-, Lyd. ni-, ON né, Old Prussian ne, Oscan ne, Pers. na/, Polish nie, Russ. ne;net, Skr. na, Toch. an-/en-, Umbrian an-, Welsh ni
*H₁ad to,by,at Goth. at, Eng. æt/at, ON at, Gm. az/--, Oscan adpúd, Umbrian ař, Ir. ad/ad, Welsh add, Gaul. ad, Lat. ad, Phryg. addaket, XMK addai
*up / *upo under Lith. po, Gk. hupo, Skr. upa, Av. upa, Pers. upa/, Eng. upp/up, ON upp, Hitt. upzi, Gm. uf/auf, Goth. iup, Toch. /spe, Ir. fo/fo, Welsh go, Gaul. Voretus, Umbrian sub, Oscan sup, Lat. sub
*H₂n̥-bʰi around (->both) Gk. amphi, Skr. abhi, Av. aiwito, Eng. bi/by; ymbi/umbe (obsolete), Gm. umbi/um; /bei, Gaul. ambi, Ir. imb/um, Toch. āmpi/, ON um, Welsh am, Pers. abiy/, Avestan aibi, Gaul. ambi-, O.C.S. oba, Russian ob, Lith. abu
*n̥dʰ-er under Eng. under/under, Skr. adhas, Av. aðairi, Gm. untar/unter, Lat. infernus, Arm. ĕndhup/ĕnthub, ON und, Goth. undar, Pers. /zēr
*per / *pero / *prō before, forth, in front of, ahead of Skr. prā, Hitt. per, Eng. for/fore-, Gm. /vor, Lith. per, pro, Lat. per, prō
*H₂euo off, away, down from Skr. ava
*H₂en / *H₂eno on, upon Gk. ano, Eng. an/on, Gm. /an, Goth. ana, ON á, Av. ana, Lat. in (in some cases)


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Indo-European studies
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