Some phrases in the Proto-Indo-European Language (PIE)

The following list is an attempt at translating some common or famous phrases into Proto-Indo-European (PIE). They are not exact, and they can never really be exact, because PIE is a reconstructed language. That is to say, we can only guess how PIE was spoken based on evidence available in the Indo-European daughter languages. Our …

PIE *mori and PAA *m·r – Are they related?

The Proto-Indo-European word *mori is one of the many words that have been reconstructed for the language without much debate. It is present in enough of the daughter languages, and follows the expected sound change laws that we would expect, and so may be confidently added to the dictionaries and word lists. The only problem …

The Indo-European and Afroasiatic negative particles – A common origin

Proto-Indo-European (PIE) has two securely reconstructable negative particles, *ne and *mē. I believe that these two clearly correspond with, and are descended from the Proto-Afroasiatic (PAA) negative particles *n- and *m-.The Proto-Indo-European negative particlesThe first of the two negative particles is usually reconstructed as *ne, and is understood to mean 'not'. Some argue for an …

How Knowledge of Proto-Indo-European Can Improve Your Knowledge of English Words (and Other Languages!)

This post will aim to demonstrate that discovering the etymologies of words that we use in the English language can help to better understand the words and their meanings. Sometimes there are meanings embedded in the etymologies that can help us to better understand how the words evolved to mean what they do today, or …

A Possible Etymology for the Name of the God ‘Apollo’

The etymology of the name of the god Apollo is not agreed upon by historians or linguists. As far back as the era of Ancient Greece, there were various theories in existence which suggested what the meaning of the name was supposed to have been. That the Ancient Greeks themselves no longer securely remembered what …

100 Proto-Indo-European Words that are inherited from Proto-Afroasiatic

The Afroasiatic Hypothesis maintains that the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is descended from the Proto-Afroasiatic language (PAA). A core part of this hypothesis is a list of words which are inherited from PAA to PIE, with regular sound change laws. There are between 500-1,000 words I have found which fit the criteria of inheritance from PAA-PIE, …

Reconstructing the Proto-Afroasiatic Pronouns – A New Approach

Reconstructing the Proto-Afroasiatic language can be difficult, it is significantly harder to reconstruct than Proto-Indo-European or Proto-Austronesian. Thankfully, however, the pronominal system of Proto-Afroasiatic is comparatively easier to deal with, as the Afroasiatic daughter languages preserve very similar forms of the pronouns. This is not too surprising, as pronouns tend to be very conservative across …

How to say ‘Fuck You’ in Proto-Indo-European (PIE)?

Often enough when I introduce the Proto-Indo-European language to a person, I am asked to give examples of how certain words or phrases may be said in the language. Sometimes the words are quite easy to explain and to 'translate' into English. However, more than once I have been asked how one might say a …

PAA *ɣ·y·b and PIE *h₃yebʰ – A Common Root?

The Proto-Indo-European root *h₃yebʰ is somewhat famous in Indo-European studies. It is the source of a number of words in Indo-European languages that mean 'to fuck' or 'to have sex', and so not surprisingly garners itself a bit of attention. It is preserved with such meanings in the following forms:Proto-Hellenic *oyépʰō > Ancient Greek - …

Why Did Some Languages Call Water Black?

There is a famous reference in an Arabic text to water being called 'black'. This reference has puzzled many, and various explanations have been offered for why water, which is usually referred to as being colourless or blue, should be called 'black'.The text itself is potentially quite confusing, as it initially refers to both dates …