Proto-Indo-European particles


The particles of the Proto-Indo-European language 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, 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 and The bird is above the house. The postpositions became prepositions in the daughter languages except Anatolian, Germanic, Indo-Iranian and Sabellic; Latin and Greek preserve postpositions vestigially.
Reflexes, or descendants of the PIE reconstructed forms in its daughter languages, include the following.
ParticleMeaningReflexes
fromVed. ápa "away, forth", Gk. apó, Lat. ab "from", Alb. pa "without", Eng. of, off, Hitt. āppa, āppan "behind"
to, by, atLat. 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
from, back, againLat. at, OCS OCS отъ Ir. aith-, Welsh ad- "re-", Toch. A atas, Toch. B ate "away", Gk. atar "however"
on, uponAv. ana, Gk. ano, Lat. in, ON á, Goth. ana, Eng. an/on, Gm. ?/an, Lith. ant
against, at the end, in front of, beforeGk. anti, Lat. ante, Hitt. hantezzi "first"
off, away, too much, veryVed. ava, ' Lat. aut, autem, 'Lith. nuo, Eng. of, off
around Ved. abhi, Av. aiwito, aibi, Pers. abiy/?, Gk. amphi, ON um, Eng. bi/by; ymbi/umbe, 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"
withoutOCS без, OPruss. bhe, Ved. bahis "from outwards"
toGk. -de, Eng. to, Gm. zu, Lith. da-, OCS do, PER tâ, Welsh i, Ir. do, Luw. anda,
outLat. ex, Gk. ἐκ /ἐξ, Gaul. ex-, Ir. ass/as; acht/; echtar, Russ. из, Alb. jashtë, Oscan eh-, Umbrian ehe-, Lith. iš, Ltv. iz, OPruss. is, Welsh ech-
outsideGk. ektos
extraLat. extra, Welsh eithr "except, besides"
inGk. en, Lat. in, Eng. in/in, Gm. in/in, īn/ein-, Ir. i, Welsh yn, Arm. i, Alb. në, OPruss. en, OCS vŭ-,
Luw. anda, Carian nt_a, Goth. in, ON í, Ir. in/i, Lith. į, Ltv. iekšā
within, insideVed. antár "between", Lat. inter "between, among", Gm. untar/unter "between, among", Ir. eter/idir "between", Cornish ynter, Alb. ndër "between, in", Pers. ændær "inside", SCr. unutar "within"
beyond, over, besidesLat. et, etiam, Gk. ἔτι, οὐκέτι, Ved. अति, Av. aiti, OPruss. et-, at-, Eng. ed-, edgrow, Gaul. eti, t-ic
near, at, upon, byVed. ápi "by, on", Gk. epí "on", Lat. ob "on", Arm. ew "and",
Av. aipi, Lith. api-, apie, Alb. afër "near"
withoutKhot. anau "without" Osset. aenae Gk. aneu
by, alongHitt. katta "with, down ", Gaul. kanta "with", Gk. katá "down" Welsh gan
withLat. cum, Ir. co/?, Welsh cyf-, Goth. ga-
in the middlePers., miyan Av. madiiana, Khot. mayana-, Ved. madhyama Lat. medius OPruss. median Goth. miduma "the middle" OCS meždu, Welsh y mewn
underVed. adhás, Av. aδairi, Lat. īnfr-ā, Eng. under/under, Arm. ənd,
Pers. ?/zēr, ON und, Goth. undar, Gm. untar/unter, Arm. ĕndhup/ĕnthub
down, underVed. ní, Eng. ne-ther, Arm. ni, OCS ni-zŭ
nowHitt. 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, Alb. tani, Arb. naní
towards, into, atOCS объ
with, togetherHitt. pe-
around, throughVed. pári "around, forth", Gk. perí "around", Lat. per "through", OPruss. per, Alb. për, Russ. pere- "through, over"
before, forth, in front of, ahead ofHitt. 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
afterVed. pascat, Lat. post, Lith. paskui
for, for the purpose ofVed. r̥ OCS ради
throughVed. tiras, Lat. trāns, Eng. through, OIr. tar, Welsh tra
aboveVed. upári, Gk. hupér, Lat. s-uper, Eng. over, Ir. for/fara, Welsh gor-, gwar- Arm. ver "up", Alb. sipër, Gm. über
under, belowVed. úpa "up to", Gk. hupó "below", Lat. s-ub, Ir. fo/faoi, 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:
Two privatives can be reconstructed, and, the latter only used for negative commands. The privative prefix is likely the zero grade of.
ParticleMeaningReflexes
sentence negatorVed. ná, Lat. nē/ne-, Eng. ne/no, Gm. ne/nein, Lith. nè, OCS ne,
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
privative prefixHitt. am-, Ved. a-, Gk. a-, Lat. in-, Alb. e-, Eng. un-, Gm. un-
negator for commandsVed. mā, Per ma-, Gk. mē
Alb. mos

Adverbs derived from adjectives

Adverbs derived from adjectives 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 "greatly", a nominative-accusative singular.

Conjunctions

The following [|conjunctions] can be reconstructed:
ParticleMeaningReflexes
and, word or phrase connector†Hitt. -ku, Ved. ca, Av. ca, Gk. te, kai, Lat. -que, Celtib. kue, Per ke
or, word or phrase disjunctor†Ved. vā, Gk. -ē, Lat. -ve
and, sentence connectorGk. dé, Alb. dhe, Russ. da "and"
and, sentence connectorHitt. nu, Ved. nú, Gk. nú, Toch. ?/nu, Ir. no-/?, OCS nŭ

†Placed after the joined word, as in Latin SPQR, -que joining senatus and populus.

Interjections

There is only one PIE interjection that can be securely reconstructed; the second is uncertain.
ParticleMeaningReflexes
expression of woe or agonyHitt. uwai, Lat. vae, Welsh gwae, Breton gwa, Eng. woe, ON. vei, Pers. vai, Kurd. wai, Ved. uvē, Gk. aī, aī aī , Lith. vajé, Ltv. ai, vai
oh!Gk. ō, Lat. ō, Eng. oh!, Gm. oh!, Russ. o!, Pers. e!