Title of the article:

SEARCHING FOR THE LEXICAL CORE OF PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGE

Author(s):

Mikhail S. Yastrebov-Pestritskiy

Dmitry M. Bystrov

Information about the author/authors

Mikhail S. Yastrebov-Pestritsky — PhD in Philology, Leading Specialist, Scientific Library of the State Archive
of the Russian Federation, Bolshaya Pirogovskaya St., 17, 119435 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6455-9546. E-mail: myp-63@mail.ru

Dmitry M. Bystrov — Founder of the information site “Orthowiki” (http://орфография.org/) and the Planned
Russian language project, Vysokovoltnaya St., 37, bild. 1, apart. 12, 390026 Ryazan, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9678-5804. E-mail: dmitry.alonecoder@gmail.com

Section

Philological sciences

Year

2020

Volume

Vol. 57

Pages

pp. 183-200

Received

March 31, 2020

Date of publication

September 28, 2020

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2020-57-183-200

Index UDK

81’02

Index BBK

81.1

Abstract

The existing reconstruction of PIE does not distinguish nuclear and peripheral languages and vocabulary. However,
there are signs that a number of branches are peripheral, in particular, the well-studied Germanic branch. The paper
makes an attempt to find the lexical core of PIE, basing on structurally similar languages: Balto-Slavic (the authors
are also developing a reconstruction of its vocabulary — in particular, the Swadesh list), Greek, Italo-Celtic and
Indo-Iranian. The technique of searching for roots common in all four branches is described. The study has identified,
for instance, such roots with *g, *g’, *gh, *g’h, *gw (42 examples for the latter), as well as *(s)gh- (22 examples)
and *sk’- (10 examples) — sources of the initial *x- in Slavic. Several hundred of such 4-way matching roots are
already found, more than 1000 are expected. The authors also reveal lexicographic and organizational problems
encountered in the course of reconstruction.

Keywords

etymology, proto-Indo-European, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, proto-Balto-Slavic, reconstruction, method,
*gw, *sgh, *sk’.

References

1 Asmangulian A. A. Protiv gipotezy o “dvuprirodnosti” armianskogo iazyka [Against the hypothesis of “double nature” of the Armenian language]. Voprosy iazykoznaniia, 1953, no 6, pp. 21–36. (In Russian)

2 Birnbaum Kh. Praslavianskii iazyk: Dostizheniia i problemy v ego rekonstruktsii: translation from English [Proto-Slavic language: Achievements and challenges in its reconstruction], introductory article by V. A. Dybo; general edition by V. A. Dybo and V. K. Zhuravleva. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1986. 320 p. (In Russian)

3 Grin' A. (Phersu). Vozmozhnoe cheredovanie bh i sw v PIE (Possible correlation of -bh- and -sw- in PIE) [Possible alternation of BH and W in the pie (possible correlation-BH-and-sw-in the PIE) ]. LingvoWiki. Available at: https://wiki.lingvoforum.net/wiki/index.php/%D0%A3%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA:Phersu/%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_bh_%D0%B8_w_%D0%B2_PIE (accessed 01 July 2020). (In Russian)

4 Desnitskaia A. V. O mnimom strukturnom edinstve indoevropeiskikh iazykov [On the supposed structural unity of Indo-European languages]. Izvestiia Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1941, no 1, pp. 58–78. (In Russian)

5 Dvoretskii I. Kh. Drevnegrechesko-russkii slovar': v 2 t. [Ancient Greek-Russian dictionary: in 2 vols.] Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo inostrannykh i natsional'nykh slovarei Publ., 1958, vol. 1, pp. 1–1043, vol. 2, pp. 1044–1904. (In Russian)

6 Dybo A., Starostin G. V zashchitu sravnitel'no-istoricheskogo metoda (vozrazheniia na kritiku A. Vovina) [In defense of the comparative-historical method (objections to the criticism of A. Vovin) ]. Aspekty komparativistiki [Aspects of comparative studies]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo RGGU Publ., 2008, vol. 3, pp. 175–176. (In Russian)

7 Illich-Svitych V. M. Odin iz istochnikov nachal'nogo kh- v praslavianskom (Popravka k «zakonu Zibsa») [One of the sources of initial x - in proto-Slavic (Amendment to the “law of Zibs”) ]. Voprosy iazykoznaniia, 1961, no 4, pp. 93–98. (In Russian)

8 Nazvaniia snega v russkom iazyke [Names of the snow in the Russian language]. Alonecoder.nedopc.com. Available at: http://alonecoder.nedopc.com/ling/SNOW.txt (accessed 01 July 2020). (In Russian)

9 Promezhutochnye materialy po rekonstruktsii PIE [Intermediate materials for PIU reconstruction]. Alonecoder.nedopc.com. Available at: http://alonecoder.nedopc.com/ling/PIE/index.html (accessed 01 July 2020). (In Russian)

10 Rastorgueva V. S., Edel'man D. I. Etimologicheskii slovar' iranskikh iazykov [Etymological dictionary of Iranian languages]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., Vostochnaia literature Publ., 2000–2011. Vol. 1. 327 p. Vol. 2. 502 p. Vol. 3. 493 p. Vol. 4. 415 p. Vol. 5. 566 p. (In Russian)

11 Slovar' tserkovno-slavianskogo i russkogo iazyka, sostavlennyi Vtorym Otdeleniem Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk. V 4 t. [Dictionary of Church Slavonic and Russian, compiled by the Second Department of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. In 4 vols] St. Petersburg, Tipografiia Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk Publ., 1868. Vol. 4. 512 p. (In Russian)

12 Trubetskoi H. S. Mysli ob indoevropeiskoi probleme [Thoughts on the Indo-European problem]. Voprosy iazykoznaniia, 1958, no 1, pp. 65–77. (In Russian)

13 Fasmer M. Etimologicheskii slovar' russkogo iazyka: v 4 t. [Etymological dictionary of the Russian language: in 4 vols.], translation from German and additions by O. N. Trubacheva; edited with a Preface by Professor B. A. Larina. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1986–1987. Vol. I. 576 p. Vol. II. 672 p. Vol. III. 832 p. Vol. IV. 864 p. (In Russian)

14 Etimologicheskii slovar' slavianskikh iazykov the proto-Slavic lexical Fund. Issues 1–41 [Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages (Etymological dictionary of Slavic languages): proto-Slavic lexical Fund. Issues 1–41]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 2018. Issues 41 (*pala — *paž'n"(j')). 280 p. (In Russian)

15 Acharian Hrachia. Հրաչեայ Աճառեան։ Երեւանի Համալսարանի Հրատարակչութիւն, Երեւան, 1926 [Acharian Hrachia. I Don't Know. Yerevan University Press, Yerevan, 1926]. Etymological dictionary of Armenian. Available at: http://www.nayiri.com/imagedDictionaryBrowser.jsp?dictionaryId=7 (accessed 01 July 2020). (In Russian).

16 Albanian Etymological Dictionary, by Vladimir Orel. Leiden, Boston, Köln, Brill Publ., 1998. 712 p. (In English)

17 Dixon Robert M. W. The rise and fall of languages. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 2001. 169 p. (In English)

18 Donkin T. C. An Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages: Chiefly from the German of Friedrich Diez. London, Edinburgh, Williams and Norgate Publ., 1864. 482 p. (In English)

19 Etymological dictionary of Greek, by Robert Beekes; with the assistance of Lucien van Beek. Leiden Indo-European etymological dictionary series. Leiden, Boston, Brill Publ., 2010. Vol. 10/112. 1808 p. (In English)

20 Etymological dictionary of Iranian verb, by Johnny Cheung. Leiden Indo-European etymological dictionary series. Leiden, Boston, Brill Publ., 2007. Vol. 2. 625 p. (In English)

21 Etymological dictionary of Latin and the other Italic languages, by Michiel de Vaan. Leiden Indo-European etymological dictionary series. Leiden, Boston, Brill Publ., 2008. Vol. 7. 825 p. (In English)

22 Etymological dictionary of proto-Celtic, by Ranko Matasovic. Leiden Indo-European etymological dictionary series. Leiden, Boston, Brill Publ., 2009. Vol. 9. 458 p. (In English)

23 Etymology of Armenian language. Armenianlanguage.org. Available at: http://armenianlanguage.org/etymology/etymology.html (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

24 Frisk H. Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 Bde. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, Universitätsverlag, 1960–1972. Band I. 968 S. Band II. 1154 S. Band III. 312 S. (In German)

25 Hittite Etymological Dictionary. (Trends in linguistics. Documentation (Jaan Puhvel)). Berlin, Boston, New York, Amsterdam, De Gruyter Mouton Publ., 1984–2013. Vol 1–9. (In English)

26 Kuiper F. B. J. “Rigvedic loanwords”, Spies (ed.). Studia Indologica: Festschrift für Willibald Kirfel. Bonn, Orientalistisches Seminar der Universität Publ., 1955.
S. 137–185. (In German)

27 Lewis Charlton T., Short Charles. A Latin Dictionary // Perseus.tufts.edu. Available at: at: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3DA1 (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

28 López-Menchero F. The Late Proto-Indo-European Etymological Lexicon, v. 7. Academia Prisca. URL: https://indo-european.info/indo-european-lexicon-v7-2019.xls (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

29 Lyberis A. Lietuvių-rusų kalbų žodynas. Ketvirtoji laida [Lithuanian-Russian dictionary. Fourth release]. Ketvirtoji laida, spec. redaktorius prof. habil. dr. Valerijus Čekmonas. Vilnius, Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas Publ., 2005. 951 p. (In Lithuanian)

30 Mailhammer R. The Germanic strong verbs: foundations and development of a new system (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 183). Berlin, New York, Mouton de Gruyter Publ., 2007. 272 p. (In English)

31 Monier-Williams M. Sanskrit-English Dictionary / revised by E. Leumann, C. Cappeller, et al. Sanskrit.inria.fr. Available at: https://sanskrit.inria.fr/MW/1.html (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

32 Oberlies T. (1994). “Review Article: F. B. J. Kuiper: Aryans in the Rigveda”. Indo-Iranian Journal, no 37 (4), pp. 333–349. (In English)

33 Oxford Latin Dictionary, edited by P. G. W. Glare. Oxford, Clarendon Press Publ., 1968–1982. 2126 p. (In English)

34 Perseus Greek Word Study Tool. Perseus.tufts.edu. Available at: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=a&la=greek (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

35 Pokorny J. Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Band 1–3. Bern, München, Francke Verlag Publ., 1959. 1183 S. (In German)

36 Rix H. Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben. 2^nd ed. Wiesbaden, Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag Publ., 2001. 824 S. (In German)

37 Swadesh M. “Lexicostatistic Dating of Prehistoric Ethnic Contacts”. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 96. No 4. 1952. Available at: https://books.google.ru/books?id=S6bwzXHWLWUC&pg=PA452&hl=ru&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

38 The Cologne Digital Sanskrit Lexicon. Sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de. Available at: https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/tamil/index.html (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

39 Vishnevskiy S. Facultative loss of w, j in the Proto-Indo-European, 2018. Academia.edu. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/36639367/Facultative_loss_of_w_j_in_the_Proto-Indo-European (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

40 Walde A. Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen. 3 vols., ed. by Julius Pokorny. Berlin, Leipzig, Walter de Gruyter Publ., 1927–1932. Vol. 1. 985 S. Vol. 2. 716 S. Vol. 3. 273 S. (In German)

41 Witzel M. E. J. “The Languages of Harappa”. Proceedings of the conference on the Indus civilization, Madison 1998. Available at: https://people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/HarLang.pdf (accessed 01 July 2020). (In English)

PDF-file

Download

Illustrations