Common Indo-European

See also: Indo-European

One names Indo-European Indo-European commun run , or only (often shortened in IE ), a prehistoric language supposed at the origin of all the languages known as '' Indo-European ''. It was very partially rebuilt starting from the comparison between the languages, current or old, which of it result. Our knowledge of the Indo-European thus rests on the compared Linguistique, and in particular on the Phonétique history. One can rebuild some aspects of Phonologie of Lexique and morphology; current research tries to find some points of Syntaxe

History of research

One in general allots the “discovery” of the Indo-European languages to the English William Jones in 1786. In fact, it did nothing but formulate known facts well a long time front him. As of XVIe century more still at the XVIIe century, authors Dutch, Italian, Swedish and French wrote many reports on the resemblances between in particular the Persan one, the Sanskrit, the languages traditional and the Germanic languages. The Swede Boxhorn and the French Claude Saumaise publish almost simultaneously (1640 and 1643) of the studies in which they suppose the existence of a common source language, Claude Saumaise going until reconstituting forms of origin, which does of them one of the ignored precursors of compared linguistics. It will be, at the XIXe century, the Dane Rasmus Rask and the Germans Jacob Grimm, Franz Bopp and Schlegel (before others) which will contribute to systematize the comparative study of the Indo-European languages.

Reconstitution of the lexicon

The let us étymons Indo-European must be written preceded by a Astérisque, which indicates the character supposed and not attested of the form. There exist several manners of noting étymons them, according to the degree of accuracy; for example, the word meaning “mother” is noted *mātēr or, more precisely (and if one follows the theses laryngalists, méħ2tēr (or, with other typographical conventions, méH2tēr , méh2tēr ). That is noted of as much better with the étymon for “sun”, séh2-ul , *séħ2-ul , *sāul- , etc

Some examples of let us étymons Indo-European reconstituted and of words of which they are in the beginning:

“ mother ”
Indo-European: méħ2tēr

“ sun ”:

Indo-European: *séħ2-ul

  • Avestique (gathic): huuarǝ ;

  • Sanskrit:
    • védique : svàr स्व॑र्, súvar सुव॑र्, sū́rya- सूर्य॑,
    • traditional: sū́ra- सूर॑;
  • Tokharien B swāñco (“sun ray”)
  • Gotique: 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌹𐌻 sauil , 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉 sunnō ;
  • Old English: sunne ; English: sun ;
  • Old high German: sunna , German: Sounds ;
  • Dutch: zon ;
  • Icelandic: sól ;
  • Danish, Norwegian, Swedish: ground ;
  • Greek:
    • Homeric: ἡέλιος / hēélios and ἠέλιος / ēélios ,
    • crétois and pamphylien: ἀϐέλιος / avélios ,
    • attic: ἥλιος / hḗlios ,
    • dorien literary: ἀέλιος / haélios and ἅλιος / hálios ,
    • arcadien: ἀέλιος / aélios ,
    • lesbian: ἀϜέλιος / avélios ,
To consult Greek Dialects for more details on these languages.

Principal linguistic laws used in historical phonetics of the Indo-European languages

Entre brackets: surface of extension of the law; IE for " indo-européen".

  1. Law of reduction of velar the (IE);
  2. Law of the dental consonants in contact (IE);
  3. Law of Grimm (Germanic Armenian commun run and );
  4. Law of Verner (Germanic commun run);
  5. Second consonant shift (high German);
  6. Law of Bartholomae (Indo-Iranian);
  7. Law of Bartsch (Former French);
  8. Law of Brugmann (Indo-Iranian);
  9. Law of Caland-Wackernagel (IE);
  10. Law of Grassmann (Greek and Indo-Iranian);
  11. Law of Hirt (balto-Slavic);
  12. Law of Lachmann (Latin);
  13. Law of Leskien (Baltic);
  14. Law of limitation (Greek);
  15. Law of Lindeman (IE);
  16. Law of Meillet (balto-Slavic);
  17. Law of Osthoff (Greek);
  18. Law ruki (languages satem);
  19. Law of Saussure (Baltic);
  20. Law of Siebs (IE);
  21. Law of Siever (IE);
  22. Law of Rix (Greek);
  23. Law of Winter-Kortlandt (balto-Slavic).

Concepts of grammar

Certain grammatical rules could be released, thanks to the studies of compared linguistics. However, they remain hypothetical, and are to be considered as such.

Names

The substantives are declined according to eight Cas: Personal, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, instrumental, Ablative, Rental and Vocative.

There are three kinds: masculine, female and neutral.

Pronouns

The pronouns are particularly difficult to reconstitute, because of the innumerable variations which they could take in the languages risen from the Indo-European. There exist personal pronouns for the first and the second nobody, but not for the third, where one uses in the place a conclusive Pronom.

The Indo-European had a unit distinct from terminations for the pronouns; however much were replaced later by nominal terminations.

Verbs

The system of the verbs in Indo-European is complex and uses the Ablaut amongst other things.

The verbs have at least four different modes: indicative, imperative, Subjunctive and Optative, but perhaps also the Injunctive . They also have two voice: the active voice and the average voice. They can be expressed according to three grammatical people: the first, the second and the third. They are combined according to three times at least: present, perfect Aorist and . Indicative forms of the Imperfect and, less probably, Pluperfect, can exist. The verbs are also used with a very developed system of Participe S, adapted to each combination of time and mode, as well as a whole of verbal Noms and adjectival forms.

One can create a certain number of secondary forms, like the Causatif, the Intensif and the Désidératif; technically these phenomena rise more Dérivation than of the inflection.

The system of the verbs in common Indo-European is supposed being very close to those of the old Greek and the Sanskrit vedic, two of its languages the closest girls.

The original directions of times of last (aorist, perfect and imperfect) are often supposed to correspond to the directions that they have in old Greek. However the directions which they have vedic in Sanskrit differ somewhat; thus all is not clear. In particular, imperfect of the Sanskrit védique one has a direction close to the aorist of the Greek. At the same time, the imperfect one of the Sanskrit is often indistingable of a time of the present (Whitney 1924). In the modes other than the code, one cannot practically make the difference between present, aorist and perfect.

Numbers

There exist three numbers: singular, duel and plural. A fourth number, the collective is also counted. The substantives with the collective then expressed the idea of a category, of a whole:
  • " (One) femme" (singular) an individual of female sex indicates.
  • " (It) femme" (adding up) indicates a whole category, that of the women in general.
The collective almost disappeared with the Indo-European; the Celtic Languages and the Ashèm preserve it (in the form of a complete variation for the Ashèm). The traditional Greek preserves of it the trace with the rule known as of Τὰ ζῷα τρέχει, which wants that the plural neutral substantives - descendants of the adding up neutrals Indo-European - are accompanied by a verb conjugated in the singular.

Many languages such as French flirtent with a not declined form of the collective. One of the examples more striking consists with affubler certain substantives - in particular those indicating a concept, a current of thought - of a capital letter. The State, Holy Spirit, Philosophy, the Beauty… These words are grammatically in the singular, but semantically with the collective. It is not a question any more of speaking about a state, a philosophy, or a beauty among others, but about a single thing, therefore indénombrable. The singular isolates only one element from a heterogeneous whole; the collective indicates a homogeneous whole.

This concept appears still better in English, where certain words (advice, luggage, furniture, money…) known as uncountable must be accompanied by a singulatif (nap, has part off) to indicate a precise object and not a whole of goods. To a lesser extent, the Celtic languages as the Breton one use sometimes a singulatif suffix; example: stered , stars, singular steredenn .

Other fields of research

In addition to the linguistic aspects, the IE makes it possible to find a symbolic system common to the people IE, which one studies, inter alia, within the framework of the compared Mythologie, the compared Poétique or in the study of the Indo-European Institutions.

See too

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