
The Proto-Italic language is the ancestor of the Italic languages, most notably Latin and its descendants, the Romance languages. It is not directly attested in writing, but has been reconstructed to some degree through the comparative method. Proto-Italic descended from the earlier Proto-Indo-European language.
Proto-Italic | |
---|---|
Reconstruction of | Italic languages |
Region | Italian Peninsula |
Era | c. 1000 BC |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
Lower-order reconstructions |
|

History
Although an equation between archeological and linguistic evidence cannot be established with certainty, the Proto-Italic language is generally associated with the Terramare (1700–1150 BC) and Villanovan cultures (900–700 BC).
On the other hand, work in glottochronology has argued that Proto-Italic split off from the western Proto-Indo-European dialects some time before 2500 BC. It was originally spoken by Italic tribes north of the Alps before they moved south into the Italian Peninsula during the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. Linguistic evidence also points to early contacts with Celtic tribes and Proto-Germanic speakers.
Development
A list of regular phonetic changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Italic follows. Because Latin is the only well-attested Italic language, it forms the main source for the reconstruction of Proto-Italic. It is therefore not always clear whether certain changes apply to all of Italic (a pre-PI change), or only to Latin (a post-PI change), because of lack of conclusive evidence.
Obstruents
- Palatovelars merged with plain velars, a change termed centumization.
- *ḱ > *k
- *ǵ > *g
- *ǵʰ > *gʰ
- Sequences of palatovelars and *w merged with labiovelars: *ḱw, *ǵw, *ǵʰw > *kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ
- *p...kʷ > *kʷ...kʷ, a change also found in Celtic.
- Labiovelars lose their labialisation before a consonant: *kʷC, *gʷC, *gʷʰC > *kC, *gC, *gʰC.
- Obstruent consonants become (unaspirated) voiceless before another voiceless consonant (usually *s or *t).
- Voiced aspirates become fricatives. Word-initially, they become voiceless, while they are allophonically voiced word-medially. Judging from Oscan evidence, they apparently remained fricatives even after a nasal consonant. In most other Italic languages they developed into stops later in that position.
- *bʰ > *f (medially *β)
- *dʰ > *θ (medially *ð)
- *gʰ > *x (medially *ɣ)
- *gʷʰ > *xʷ (medially *ɣʷ)
- *s was also allophonically voiced to *z word-medially.
- *sr, *zr > *θr, *ðr.[clarification needed]
- *θ, *xʷ > *f. Found in Venetic vhagsto/hvagsto (compare Latin faciō). The voiced allophones *ð and *ɣʷ remained distinct from *β in Latin and Venetic, but also merged in Osco-Umbrian.
- *tl > *kl word-medially.
- Final *t became *d
Vowels and sonorants
- *l̥, *r̥ > *ol, *or
- *m̥, *n̥ > *əm, *ən (see below on "Vowels")
- *j is lost between vowels. The resulting vowels in hiatus contract into a long vowel if the two vowels are the same.
- *ew > *ow.
- *o > *a in open syllables after labials and *l.
- *-mj- > -*nj-
Laryngeals
The laryngeals are a class of hypothetical PIE sounds *h₁, *h₂, *h₃ that usually disappeared in late PIE, leaving coloring effects on adjacent vowels. Their disappearance left some distinctive sound combinations in Proto-Italic. In the changes below, the # follows standard practice in denoting a word boundary; that is, # at the beginning denotes word-initial. H denotes any of the three laryngeals.
The simpler Italic developments of laryngeals are shared by many other Indo-European branches:
- *h₁e > *e, *h₂e > *a, *h₃e > *o
- *eh₁ > *ē, *eh₂ > *ā, *eh₃ > *ō
- *H > *a between obstruents
- Laryngeals are lost word-initially before a consonant.
More characteristic of Italic are the interactions of laryngeals with sonorant consonants. Here, R represents a sonorant, and C a consonant.
- #HRC > #aRC and CHRC > CaRC, but #HRV > #RV
- CRHC > CRāC, but CRHV > CaRV
- CiHC and probably CHiC > CīC
Morphology
- General loss of the dual, with only a few relics remaining.
- Loss of the instrumental case.
Phonology
Consonants
Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial–velar | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | (ŋ) | |||
Plosive | p b | t d | k ɡ | kʷ ɡʷ | ||
Fricative | ɸ (β) | θ? ð? | s (z) | x (ɣ) | xʷ? ɣʷ? | |
Trill | r | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | j | w |
- [ŋ] was an allophone of /n/ before a velar consonant.
- The voiced fricatives [β], [ð], [ɣ], [ɣʷ] and [z] were in complementary distribution with word-initial voiceless fricatives [ɸ], [θ], [x], [xʷ] and [s], and were thus originally simply allophones of each other. However, at some point in the Proto-Italic period, the allophony was somewhat disrupted by the loss of the voiceless allophones [θ] and [xʷ], which merged with [ɸ]. Scholars[who?] disagree on whether to reconstruct Proto-Italic with the phonemes /θ ~ ð/ and /xʷ ~ ɣʷ/ still present (hence assuming that the merger with [ɸ] was a later areal change that spread across all extant dialects, possibly occurring simultaneous with or after the loss of the corresponding voiced fricatives), or to reconstruct Proto-Italic with the phonemes' voiceless allophones merged into /ɸ ~ β/, and their voiced allophones becoming independent phonemes /ð/, /ɣʷ/. Both of these sounds are relatively uncommon cross-linguistically, and eventually they were eliminated in all later languages, but differently in each.
Vowels
|
|
- /ə/ was perhaps not a true phoneme, but was inserted before consonants as a prop vowel. It can be reconstructed based on the outcome of the Proto-Indo-European syllabic nasals *m̥ and *n̥, which appear in Latin as *em, *en or *im, *in, but also as *am, *an in Osco-Umbrian alongside *em, *en. Thus, it appears necessary to reconstruct /ə/ as a distinct sound. However, Meiser reconstructs a nasal vowel /ẽ/ as this prop vowel, citing how Old French /ẽ/ evolved to modern French /ɑ̃/ as a parallel.
Proto-Italic had the following diphthongs:
- Short: *ai, *ei, *oi, *au, *ou
- Long: *āi, *ēi, *ōi
Osthoff's law remained productive in Proto-Italic. This caused long vowels to shorten when they were followed by a sonorant and another consonant in the same syllable: VːRC > VRC. As the long diphthongs were also VːR sequences, they could only occur word-finally, and were shortened elsewhere. Long vowels were also shortened before word-final *-m. This is the cause of the many occurrences of short *-a- in, for example, the endings of the ā-stems or of ā-verbs.
Prosody
Proto-Italic words may have had a fixed stress on the first syllable, a stress pattern which probably existed in most descendants in at least some periods. In Latin, initial stress is posited for the Old Latin period, after which it gave way to the "Classical" stress pattern. However, fixed initial stress may alternatively be an areal feature postdating Proto-Italic, since the vowel reductions which it is posited to explain are not found before the mid-first millennium BC.
Furthermore, the persistence of Proto-Indo-European mobile accent is required in early Proto-Italic for Brent Vine's (2006) reformulation of Thurneysen-Havet's law (where pre-tonic *ou > *au) to work.
Grammar
Nouns
Nouns could have one of three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. They declined for seven of the eight Proto-Indo-European cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative and locative. The instrumental case had been lost. Nouns also declined for number in singular and plural. The dual number was no longer distinguished, although a few remnants (like Latin duo, ambō) still preserved some form of the inherited dual inflection.
o-stems
This class corresponds to the second declension of Latin, basically divided into masculine and neuter nouns. It descends from the Proto-Indo-European thematic declension. Most nouns in this class were masculine or neuter, but there may have been some feminine nouns as well (e.g., names of plants such as Latin "papyrus").
*agrosm. "field" | *jugomn. "yoke" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | *agros < PIE *h₂éǵros | *agrōs < PIE *h₂éǵroes ( *agroi) | *jugom < PIE *yugóm | *jugā < PIE *yugéh₂ |
Vocative | *agre < *h₂éǵre | *agrōs < *h₂éǵroes ( *agroi) | ||
Accusative | *agrom < *h₂éǵrom | *agrons < *h₂éǵroms | ||
Genitive | *agrosjo < *h₂éǵrosyo *agrī | *agrom < *h₂éǵroHom | *jugosjo < *yugósyo *jugī | *jugom < *yugóHom |
Dative | *agrōi < *h₂éǵroey | *agrois < *h₂éǵroysu? | *jugōi < *yugóey | *jugois < *yugóysu? |
Ablative | *agrōd < *h₂éǵread | *jugōd < *yugéad | ||
Locative | *agroi? < *h₂éǵroy *agrei? < *h₂éǵrey | *jugoi? < *yugóy *jugei? < *yugéy |
- The genitive singular in *-ī is of unknown origin, but is found in both Italic and Celtic. It mostly ousted the older inherited genitive in *-osjo in Latin. The older form is found in a few inscriptions, such as popliosio valesiosio on the Lapis Satricanus, likely rendered as Publii Valerii in classical Latin. It is also continued in some pronominal genitives, such as cuius < *kʷojjo-s < PIE *kʷosjo, with *-s added by analogy with the consonant stem genitive in *-os. In Osco-Umbrian, neither ending survives, being replaced with *-eis, the i-stem ending.
- The nominative plural was originally *-ōs for nouns and adjectives, and *-oi for pronominal forms. The distribution in Proto-Italic is unclear, but both endings certainly still existed. The *-ōs ending was replaced altogether in Latin in favour of *-oi, whence the classical -ī. In Osco-Umbrian, the reverse happened, where *-oi was replaced with *-ōs, whence Oscan -ús, Umbrian -us.
- In Old Latin, the genitive plural was still generally -om, later -um. It was then reformed based on the ā-stem form *-āzom, giving the classical -ōrum.
- Neuter o-stems also had a dual ending -oi (< *-oyh₁), surviving in some Latin relics like caelum "sky", frēnum "bridle" and rāstrum "rake", whose plurals end in -ī instead of -a.
ā-stems
This class corresponds to the first declension of Latin. It derives primarily from Proto-Indo-European nouns in *-eh₂-, and contained mostly feminine nouns, and maybe a few masculines, such as names of jobs in Classical Latin, some of them being loanwords from Ancient Greek (e.g., incola, nauta, poeta).
*farβā (< earlier *farðā), f. beard | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | *farβā < PIE *bʰardʰéh₂ | *farβās < PIE *bʰardʰéh₂es |
Vocative | *farβa < *bʰardʰéh₂ | |
Accusative | *farβām < *bʰardʰā́m | *farβans < *bʰardʰéh₂m̥s |
Genitive | *farβās < *bʰardʰéh₂s | *farβāzom < PIE *bʰardʰéh₂soHom < *bʰardʰéh₂oHom |
Dative | *farβāi < *bʰardʰéh₂ey | *farβais < *bʰardʰéh₂su? |
Ablative | *farβād < *bʰardʰéh₂s | |
Locative | *farβāi < *bʰardʰéh₂i |
- The accusative singular ending would have been *-am originally, due to shortening of long vowels before final *-m. However, a long vowel is found in the attested forms. This long vowel most likely arose by analogy with the other endings that have a long vowel.
- The genitive plural ending was originally a pronominal form, PIE *-eh₂-soHom.
- The genitive singular in -s, still used in Old Latin, went extinct in Classical Latin except in the fixed expression "Pater familias".
Consonant stems
This class contained nouns with stems ending in a variety of consonants. They included root nouns, n-stems, r-stems, s-stems and t-stems among others. It corresponds to the third declension of Latin, which also includes the i-stems, originally a distinct class.
Masculine and feminine nouns declined alike, while neuters had different forms in the nominative/accusative/vocative.
*sniksf. "snow" | *kordn. "heart" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *sniks < PIE *snéygʷʰs | *sniɣʷes < PIE *snéygʷʰes | *kord < PIE *ḱr̥d | *kordā < PIE *ḱérdh₂ |
Accusative | *sniɣʷəm < *snéygʷʰm̥ | *sniɣʷəns < *snéygʷʰm̥s | ||
Genitive | *sniɣʷes < *snigʷʰés *sniɣʷos | *sniɣʷom < *snigʷʰóHom | *kordes < *ḱr̥dés *kordos | *kordom < *ḱr̥dóHom |
Dative | *sniɣʷei < *snigʷʰéy | *sniɣʷ(V?)βos < *snigʷʰmós | *kordei < *ḱr̥déy | *kord(V?)βos < *ḱr̥dmós |
Ablative | *sniɣʷi < *snigʷʰés (*sniɣʷa?) | *kordi < *ḱr̥dés (*korde?) | ||
Locative | *sniɣʷi < *snéygʷʰi | *kordi < *ḱérdi |
Nouns in this class often had a somewhat irregular nominative singular form. This created several subtypes, based on the final consonant of the stem.
- For most consonant stem nouns, the ending of the nominative/vocative singular was -s for masculine and feminine nouns. This ending would cause devoicing, delabialisation and/or hardening of the stem-final consonant, as seen in *sniks above. Neuter nouns had no ending.
- n-stems generally had the ending *-ō, with the infix *-on- (or maybe *-en-) in the other cases; e.g., PIt *sermō, sermōnes, in which *-mō derives from PIE *-mō < **-mons. On the other hand, neuters had *-ən in the nom/voc/acc singular, while the stem of the remaining forms is unclear. An example is *kreimən, *kreimənVs, from PIE *kréymn̥, in which -mn̥ is related to **-mons.
- r-stems had *-ēr, alternating with *-(e)r-. The alternation in vowel length was lost in Latin, but is preserved in Oscan.
- s-stems had *-ōs (for masculines and feminines) or *-os (for neuters). This alternated with *-ez- (or maybe *-oz- in some masculine/feminine nouns) in the other forms.
- The r/n-stems were a small group of neuter nouns. These had *-or in the nominative/vocative/accusative singular, but *-(e)n- in the remaining forms.
Other notes:
- The genitive singular had two possible endings. Both are attested side by side in Old Latin, although the ending -es/-is may also be from the i-stems (see below). In Osco-Umbrian, only the i-stem ending -eis is found.
- The Latin masculine nominative plural ending -ēs (with a long vowel) was taken from the i-stems.
- The neuter nominative/vocative/accusative plural originally had short *-a as the ending, or lengthening of the vowel before the final consonant. Already in Italic, this was replaced with the o-stem ending *-ā.
- The dative (and ablative/locative?) plural ending would have originally been added directly to the stem, with no intervening vowel. In Latin, there is an intervening -e- or -i-, while in Osco-Umbrian the ending is replaced altogether. It's not clear what the Proto-Italic situation was.
i-stems
This class corresponds to the nouns of the Latin third declension that had the genitive plural ending -ium (rather than -um). In Latin, the consonant stems gradually merged with this class. This process continued into the historical era; e.g. in Caesar's time (c. 50 BC) the i-stems still had a distinct accusative plural ending -īs, but this was replaced with the consonant-stem ending -ēs by the time of Augustus (c. AD 1). In Proto-Italic, as in the other Italic languages, i-stems were still very much a distinct type and showed no clear signs of merging.
Masculine and feminine nouns declined alike, while neuters had different forms in the nominative/accusative/vocative.
*mentisf. "mind" | *marin. "sea, lake" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *mentis < PIE *méntis | *mentēs < PIE *ménteyes | *mari < PIE *móri | *marjā (*-īā?) < *marī < PIE *mórih₂ |
Accusative | *mentim < *méntim | *mentins < *méntims | ||
Genitive | *mənteis < *mn̥téys *məntjes | *məntjom < *mn̥téyoHom | *mareis < *m̥réys *marjes | *marjom < *m̥réyoHom |
Dative | *məntēi < *mn̥téyey | *məntiβos < *mn̥tímos | *marēi < *m̥réyey | *mariβos < *m̥rímos |
Ablative | *məntīd < *mn̥téys | *marīd < *m̥réys | ||
Locative | *məntei < *mn̥téy | *marei < *m̥réy |
- There were apparently two different forms for the genitive singular. The form -eis is found in Osco-Umbrian. However, -es appears in early Latin, while there is no sign of *-eis. This could reflect the consonant-stem ending, but it could also come from *-jes. Compare also *-wos of the u-stems, which is attested in Old Latin, and may represent a parallel formation.
- The original form of the neuter nominative/vocative/accusative plural was *-ī, from PIE *-ih₂. Already in Italic, this was extended by adding the o-stem ending to it, thus culminating into either *-īā or *-jā.
u-stems
This class corresponds to the fourth declension of Latin. They were historically parallel to the i-stems, and still showed many similar forms, with j/i being replaced with w/u. However, sound changes had made them somewhat different over time.
*portusm. "harbour, port" | *péḱun. "cattle" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *portus < PIE *pértus | *portowes? < PIE *pértewes *portous? | *peku? (*-ū?) < PIE *péḱu | *pekwā (*-ūā?) < *pekū < PIE *péḱuh₂ |
Accusative | *portum < *pértum | *portuns < *pértums | ||
Genitive | *portous < *pr̥téws *portwos *portwes | *portwom < *pr̥téwoHom | *pekous < *pḱéws *pekwos *pekwes | *pekwom (-owom?) < *pḱéwoHom |
Dative | *portowei < *pr̥téwey | *portuβos < *pr̥túmos | *pekowei < *pḱéwey | *pekuβos < *pḱúmos |
Ablative | *portūd < *pr̥téws | *pekūd < *pḱéws | ||
Locative | *portowi? < *pr̥téwi | *pekou? < *pḱéw *pekowi? < *pḱéwi |
- The neuter nominative/vocative/accusative singular must have originally been short *-u, but in Latin only long -ū is found. It is unclear what the origin of this could be. It may be a remnant of a dual ending, considering that neuter u-stems were rare, and the few that survived tended to occur in pairs.
- Like the i-stems, the u-stems had two possible types of genitive singular ending, with an unclear distribution. *-ous is found in Oscan, and it is also the origin of the usual Latin ending -ūs. However, the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus inscription attests senatvos, and the ending -uis (from *-wes) is also found in a few sources.
- The masculine/feminine nominative/vocative plural is not securely reconstructable. Latin -ūs seems to reflect *-ous, but from PIE *-ewes the form *-owes (Latin *-uis) would be expected. The ending is not attested in Osco-Umbrian or Old Latin, which might have otherwise given conclusive evidence.
- The original form of the neuter nominative/vocative/accusative plural was *-ū. Already in Italic, this was extended by adding the o-stem ending to it, like in the i-stems, thus culminating in either *-wā or *-ūā.
Adjectives
Adjectives inflected much the same as nouns. Unlike nouns, adjectives did not have inherent genders. Instead, they inflected for all three genders, taking on the same gender-form as the noun they referred to.
Adjectives followed the same inflectional classes of nouns. The largest were the o/ā-stem adjectives (which inflected as o-stems in the masculine and neuter, and as ā-stems in the feminine), and the i-stems. Present active participles of verbs (in *-nts) and the comparative forms of adjectives (in *-jōs) inflected as consonant stems. There were also u-stem adjectives originally, but they had been converted to i-stems by adding i-stem endings onto the existing u-stem, thus giving the nominative singular *-wis.
Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine (pl.) | Feminine (pl.) | Neuter (pl.) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nom. | *alβos < PIE *albʰós | *alβā < PIE *albʰéh₂ | *alβom < PIE *albʰóm | *alβōs < *albʰóes (*alβoi) | *alβās < *albʰéh₂es | *alβā < *albʰéh₂ |
Gen. | *alβosjo < *albʰósyo (*alβī) | *alβās < *albʰéh₂s | *alβosjo < *albʰósyo (*alβī) | *alβom < *albʰóHom | *alβāzōm < PIE *albʰéh₂soHom ( < *albʰéh₂oHom) | *alβom < *albʰóHom |
Dat. | *alβōi < *albʰóey | *alβāi < *albʰéh₂ey | *alβōi < *albʰóey | *alβois < *albʰóysu | *alβais < *albʰéh₂su | *alβois < *albʰóysu |
Acc. | *alβom < *albʰóm | *alβam < *albʰā́m | *alβom < *albʰóm | *alβons < *albʰóms | *alβans < *albʰéh₂m̥s | *alβā < *albʰéh₂ |
Voc. | *alβe < *albʰé | *alβa < *albʰéh₂ | *alβom < *albʰóm | *alβōs < *albʰóes (*alβoi) | *alβās < *albʰéh₂es | *alβā < *albʰéh₂ |
Abl. | *alβōd < *albʰéad | *alβād < *albʰéh₂s | *alβōd < *albʰéad | *alβois < *albʰóysu | *alβais < *albʰéh₂su | *alβois < *albʰóysu |
Loc. | *alβei < *albʰéy | *alβāi < *albʰéh₂i | *alβei < *albʰéy | *alβois < *albʰóysu | *alβais < *albʰéh₂su | *alβois < *albʰóysu |
Pronouns
Declension of Personal Pronouns:
Singular | 1st Person | 2nd Person | Reflexive |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *egō < PIE *éǵh₂ | *tū < PIE *túh₂ | — |
Accusative | *mē, *me < *me | *tē, *te < *twé ~ *te | *sē, *se < PIE *swé ~ *se |
Genitive | *moi, *mei < *moy | *toi, *tei < *toy, *téwe | *soi, *swei < *soy, *séwe |
Dative | *meɣei < *méǵʰye | *teβei < *tébʰye | *seβei < *sébʰye |
Ablative | *med < *h₁med | *ted < *twét | *sed < *swét |
Possessive | *meos < PIE *mewos? *meyos? < *h₁mós | *towos < PIE *tewos < *twos | *sowos < PIE *sewós < *swós |
Plural | 1st Person | 2nd Person | Reflexive |
Nominative | *nōs < *nos | *wōs < *wos | — |
Accusative | *nōs < *nos | *wōs < *wos | *sē, *se |
Genitive | *nosterom? < *n̥s(er)o-? | *westerom? < *yus(er)o-? | *soi, *swei |
Dative | *nōβei < *n̥smey | *wōβei < *usmey | *seβei |
Ablative | *sed | ||
Possessive | *nosteros < *nsteros? | *westeros < *usteros? | *sowos |
Note: For the third person pronoun, Proto-Italic *is would have been used.
Declension of Relative Pronouns:
Singular | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *kʷoi < PIE *kʷós?*kʷó? | *kʷod < PIE *kʷód | *kʷāi < PIE *kʷéh₂ |
Accusative | |||
Genitive | *kʷojjos < *kʷósyo | ||
Dative | *kʷojjei, *kʷozmoi < *kʷósmey | ||
Ablative | *kʷōd < *kʷósmōd? | *kʷād < ? | |
Locative | ? < *kʷósmi | ? < *kʷósmi | ? |
Plural | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
Nominative | *kʷoi, *kʷōs | *kʷā, *kʷai | *kʷās |
Accusative | *kʷons | *kʷāns | |
Genitive | *kʷozom | *kʷazom | |
Dative | *kʷois | ||
Ablative | |||
Locative |
Declension of Interrogative Pronouns:
Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *kʷis < PIE *kʷís | *kʷid < PIE *kʷíd | |
Accusative | *kʷim < *kʷím | ||
Genitive | *kʷejjos < *kʷésyo | ||
Dative | *kʷejjei, *kʷezmoi < *kʷésmey | ||
Ablative | *kʷōd < *kʷéd? | *kʷād < *kʷéd? | *kʷōd < *kʷéd? |
Locative | ? < *kʷésmi | ? < *kʷésmi | ? < *kʷésmi |
Plural | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
Nominative | *kʷēs < *kʷéyes | *kʷī, *kʷia < *kʷíh₂ | |
Accusative | *kʷins < *kʷíms | ||
Genitive | *kʷejzom?, *kʷozom? < *kʷéysom | ||
Dative | *kʷiβos < kʷeybʰ- | ||
Ablative | |||
Locative |
Declension of Demonstrative Pronouns:
*is "this, that"
Singular | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *is < PIE *ís | *id < PIE *íd | *ejā < PIE *íh₂ |
Accusative | *im < *ím | *ejām < *íh₂m | |
Genitive | *ejjos < *ésyo | ||
Dative | *ejjei, *esmoi < *ésyeh₂ey, *ésmey | ||
Ablative | *ejōd < *ésmod | *ejād < *ésyo | |
Locative | ? < *ésmi | ? < *ésmi | ? |
Plural | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
Nominative | *ejōs, *ejoi < *éyes | *ejā < *íh₂ | *ejās < *íh₂es |
Accusative | *ejons < *íns | *ejans < *íh₂ms | |
Genitive | *ejozom < *éysom | *ejazom < *éysoHom | |
Dative | *ejois < *éymos? | *ejais < *íh₂mos? | |
Ablative | |||
Locative | ? < *éysu | ? < *éysu | ? < *íh₂su |
Numbers
Number | PIt | PIE |
---|---|---|
One (1) [I] | *oinos | *h₁óynos |
Two (2) [II] | *duō | *dwóh₁ |
Three (3) [III] | *trejes > *trēs | *tréyes |
Four (4) [IV] | *kʷettwōr | *kʷetwṓr (gen. plur.) < *kʷetwóres |
Five (5) [V] | *kʷenkʷe | *pénkʷe |
Six (6) [VI] | *seks | *swéḱs |
Seven (7) [VII] | *septem | *septḿ̥ |
Eight (8) [VIII] | *oktō | *oḱtṓw |
Nine (9) [IX] | *nowem | *h₁néwn̥ |
Ten (10) [X] | *dekem | *déḱm̥t |
Verbs
Present formations
From Proto-Indo-European, the Proto-Italic present aspect changed in a couple of ways. Firstly, a new past indicative suffix of *-β- was created. This likely occurred due to the elision of word-final *i within the Indo-European primary verb endings (E.g. PIE Present Indicative *h₁ésti > PIt *est, but also PIE Past Indicative *h₁ést). Secondly, the desiderative suffix of *-s-/-so- became the future suffix in Proto-Italic. The subjunctive of this desiderative-future, with a suffix of both -s- and a lengthening of the following vowel, was used to represent a potentialis and irrealis mood. Finally, while the subjunctive and the optative of PIE were still in principle different moods, the moods became merged in Post-PIt developments (E.g. PIt subjunctive *esed vs optative *siēd which became Latin present subjunctive sit); this can be already seen in the Proto-Italic phase, where the subjunctive mood began to take secondary endings as opposed to the primary endings they exhibited in PIE (c.f. the Sabellian reflex of the PIt 3rd person singular imperfect subjunctive being -d and not *-t).
The PIE dual person was also lost within PIt verbs just as it was in PIt nouns.
First conjugation
This conjugation pattern was derived from the PIE suffix *-eh₂-yé-ti, and formed primarily denominative verbs (I.e. deriving from a noun or an adjective).
Example Conjugation: *dōnā- (to give)
1st. Sing. | 2nd. Sing. | 3rd. Sing. | 1st. Plur. | 2nd. Plur. | 3rd. Plur. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present Active Indicative | *dōnāō | *dōnās | *dōnāt | *dōnāmos | *dōnātes | *dōnānt |
Present Passive Indicative | *dōnāor | *dōnāzo | *dōnātor | *dōnāmor | *dōnāmenai | *dōnāntor |
Past Active Indicative | *dōnāβam | *dōnāβas | *dōnāβad | *dōnāβamos | *dōnāβates | *dōnāβand |
Past Passive Indicative | *dōnāβar | *dōnāβazo | *dōnāβator | *dōnāβamor | *dōnāβamenai | *dōnāβantor |
Future Active Indicative | *dōnāsō | *dōnāses | *dōnāst | *dōnāsomos | *dōnāstes | *dōnāsont |
Future Passive Indicative | *dōnāsor | *dōnāsezo | *dōnāstor | *dōnāsomor | *dōnāsemenai | *dōnāsontor |
Present Active Subjunctive | *dōnāōm | *dōnāēs | *dōnāēd | *dōnāōmos | *dōnāētes | *dōnāōnd |
Present Passive Subjunctive | *dōnāōr | *dōnāēzo | *dōnāētor | *dōnāōmor | *dōnāēmenai | *dōnāōntor |
Past Active Subjunctive | *dōnāsōm | *dōnāsēs | *dōnāsēd | *dōnāsōmos | *dōnāsētes | *dōnāsōnd |
Past Passive Subjunctive | *dōnāsōr | *dōnāsēzo | *dōnāsētor | *dōnāsōmor | *dōnāsēmenai | *dōnāsōntor |
Active Optative | *dōnāojam | *dōnāojas | *dōnāojad | *dōnāojamos | *dōnāojates | *dōnāojand |
Passive Optative | *dōnāojar | *dōnāojazo | *dōnāojator | *dōnāojamor | *dōnāojamenai | *dōnāojantor |
Present Active Imperative | *dōnā | *dōnāte | ||||
Passive Active Imperative | *dōnāzo | |||||
Future Active Imperative | *dōnātōd |
Participles | Present | Past |
---|---|---|
Tense | *dōnānts | *dōnātos |
Verbal Nouns | tu-derivative | s-derivative |
Type | *dōnātum | *dōnāzi |
Second conjugation (causative)
This conjugation pattern was derived from PIE *-éyeti, and formed causative verbs (I.e. expressing a cause) from "basic" 3rd conjugation verbs.
Example Conjugation: *mone- (to warn)
1st. Sing. | 2nd. Sing. | 3rd. Sing. | 1st. Plur. | 2nd. Plur. | 3rd. Plur. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present Active Indicative | *moneō | *monēs | *monēt | *monēmos | *monētes | *moneont |
Present Passive Indicative | *moneor | *monēzo | *monētor | *monēmor | *monēmenai | *moneontor |
Past Active Indicative | *monēβam | *monēβas | *monēβad | *monēβamos | *monēβates | *monēβand |
Past Passive Indicative | *monēβar | *monēβazo | *monēβator | *monēβamor | *monēβamenai | *monēβantor |
Future Active Indicative | *monēsō | *monēses | *monēst | *monēsomos | *monēstes | *monēsont |
Future Passive Indicative | *monēsor | *monēsezo | *monēstor | *monēsomor | *monēsemenai | *monēsontor |
Present Active Subjunctive | *moneōm | *moneēs | *moneēd | *moneōmos | *moneētes | *moneōnd |
Present Passive Subjunctive | *moneōr | *moneēzo | *moneētor | *moneōmor | *moneēmenai | *moneōntor |
Past Active Subjunctive | *monesōm | *monesе̄s | *monesе̄d | *monesōmos | *monesе̄tes | *monesōnd |
Past Passive Subjunctive | *monesōr | *monesе̄zo | *monesе̄tor | *monesōmor | *monesе̄menai | *monesōntor |
Active Optative | *moneojam | *moneojas | *moneojad | *moneojamos | *moneojates | *moneojand |
Passive Optative | *moneojar | *moneojazo | *moneojator | *moneojamor | *moneojamenai | *moneojantor |
Present Active Imperative | *monē | *monēte | ||||
Passive Active Imperative | *monēzo | |||||
Future Active Imperative | *monētōd |
Participles | Present | Past |
---|---|---|
Tense | *monēnts | *monetos |
Verbal Nouns | tu-derivative | s-derivative |
Type | *monetum | *monēzi |
Second conjugation (stative)
This conjugation pattern was derived from PIE *-éh₁ti (or the extended form *-eh₁yéti), and formed stative verbs (I.e. indicating a state of being).
Example Conjugation: *walē- (to be strong)
1st. Sing. | 2nd. Sing. | 3rd. Sing. | 1st. Plur. | 2nd. Plur. | 3rd. Plur. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present Active Indicative | *walēō | *walēs | *walēt | *walēmos | *walētes | *walēnt |
Present Passive Indicative | *walēor | *walēzo | *walētor | *walēmor | *walēmenai | *walēntor |
Past Active Indicative | *walēβam | *walēβas | *walēβad | *walēβamos | *walēβates | *walēβand |
Past Passive Indicative | *walēβar | *walēβazo | *walēβator | *walēβamor | *walēβamenai | *walēβantor |
Future Active Indicative | *walēsō | *walēses | *walēst | *walēsomos | *walēstes | *walēsont |
Future Passive Indicative | *walēsor | *walēsezo | *walēstor | *walēsomor | *walēsemenai | *walēsontor |
Present Active Subjunctive | *walēōm | *walēēs | *walēēd | *walēōmos | *walēētes | *walēōnd |
Present Passive Subjunctive | *walēōr | *walēēzo | *walēētor | *walēōmor | *walēēmenai | *walēōntor |
Past Active Subjunctive | *walēsōm | *walēsе̄s | *walēsе̄d | *walēsōmos | *walēsе̄tes | *walēsōnd |
Past Passive Subjunctive | *walēsōr | *walēsе̄zo | *walēsе̄tor | *walēsōmor | *walēsе̄menai | *walēsōntor |
Active Optative | *walēojam | *walēojas | *walēojad | *walēojamos | *walēojates | *walēojand |
Passive Optative | *walēojar | *walēojazo | *walēojator | *walēojamor | *walēojamenai | *walēojantor |
Present Active Imperative | *walē | *walēte | ||||
Passive Active Imperative | *walēzo | |||||
Future Active Imperative | *walētōd |
Participles | Present | Past |
---|---|---|
Tense | *walēnts | *walatos |
Verbal Nouns | tu-derivative | s-derivative |
Type | *walatum | *walēzi |
Third Conjugation
The bulk of Proto-Italic verbs were third-conjugation verbs, which were derived from Proto-Indo-European root thematic verbs. However, some are derived from other PIE verb classes, such as *linkʷō (PIE nasal-infix verbs) and *dikskō (PIE *sḱe-suffix verbs).
Example Conjugation: *ed-e/o- (to eat)
1st. Sing. | 2nd. Sing. | 3rd. Sing. | 1st. Plur. | 2nd. Plur. | 3rd. Plur. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present Active Indicative | *edō | *edes | *edet | *edomos | *edetes | *edont |
Present Passive Indicative | *edor | *edezo | *edetor | *edomor | *edemenai | *edontor |
Past Active Indicative | *edoβam | *edoβas | *edoβad | *edoβamos | *edoβates | *edoβand |
Past Passive Indicative | *edoβar | *edoβazo | *edoβator | *edoβamor | *edoβamenai | *edoβantor |
Future Active Indicative | *edesō | *edeses | *edest | *edesomos | *edestes | *edesont |
Future Passive Indicative | *edesor | *edesezo | *edestor | *edesomor | *edesemenai | *edesontor |
Present Active Subjunctive | *edōm | *edе̄s | *edе̄d | *edōmos | *edе̄tes | *edōnd |
Present Passive Subjunctive | *edōr | *edе̄zo | *edе̄tor | *edōmor | *edе̄menai | *edōntor |
Past Active Subjunctive | *edesōm | *edesе̄s | *edesе̄d | *edesōmos | *edesе̄tes | *edesōnd |
Past Passive Subjunctive | *edesōr | *edesе̄zo | *edesе̄tor | *edesōmor | *edesе̄menai | *edesōntor |
Active Optative | *edojam | *edojas | *edojad | *edojamos | *edojates | *edojand |
Passive Optative | *edojar | *edojazo | *edojator | *edojamor | *edojamenai | *edojantor |
Present Active Imperative | *ede | *edete | ||||
Passive Active Imperative | *edezo | |||||
Future Active Imperative | *edetōd |
Participles | Present | Past |
---|---|---|
Tense | *edents | *essos |
Verbal Nouns | tu-derivative | s-derivative |
Type | *essum | *edezi |
Third conjugation (jō-variant)
This conjugation was derived from PIE *ye-suffix verbs, and went on to form most of Latin 3rd conjugation io-variant verbs as well as some 4th conjugation verbs.
Example Conjugation: *gʷen-jo/je- (to come), from earlier *gʷəmjō
1st. Sing. | 2nd. Sing. | 3rd. Sing. | 1st. Plur. | 2nd. Plur. | 3rd. Plur. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present Active Indicative | *gʷenjō | *gʷenjes | *gʷenjet | *gʷenjomos | *gʷenjetes | *gʷenjont |
Present Passive Indicative | *gʷenjor | *gʷenjezo | *gʷenjetor | *gʷenjomor | *gʷenjemenai | *gʷenjontor |
Past Active Indicative | *gʷenjoβam | *gʷenjoβas | *gʷenjoβad | *gʷenjoβamos | *gʷenjoβates | *gʷenjoβand |
Past Passive Indicative | *gʷenjoβar | *gʷenjoβazo | *gʷenjoβator | *gʷenjoβamor | *gʷenjoβamenai | *gʷenjoβantor |
Future Active Indicative | *gʷenjesō | *gʷenjeses | *gʷenjest | *gʷenjesomos | *gʷenjestes | *gʷenjesont |
Future Passive Indicative | *gʷenjesor | *gʷenjesezo | *gʷenjestor | *gʷenjesomor | *gʷenjesemenai | *gʷenjesontor |
Present Active Subjunctive | *gʷenjōm | *gʷenjе̄s | *gʷenjе̄d | *gʷenjōmos | *gʷenjе̄tes | *gʷenjōnd |
Present Passive Subjunctive | *gʷenjōr | *gʷenjе̄zo | *gʷenjе̄tor | *gʷenjōmor | *gʷenjе̄menai | *gʷenjōntor |
Past Active Subjunctive | *gʷenjesōm | *gʷenjesе̄s | *gʷenjesе̄d | *gʷenjesōmos | *gʷenjesе̄tes | *gʷenjesōnd |
Past Passive Subjunctive | *gʷenjesōr | *gʷenjesе̄zo | *gʷenjesе̄tor | *gʷenjesōmor | *gʷenjesе̄menai | *gʷenjesōntor |
Active Optative | *gʷenjojam | *gʷenjojas | *gʷenjojad | *gʷenjojamos | *gʷenjojates | *gʷenjojand |
Passive Optative | *gʷenjojar | *gʷenjojazo | *gʷenjojator | *gʷenjojamor | *gʷenjojamenai | *gʷenjojantor |
Present Active Imperative | *gʷenje | *gʷenjete | ||||
Passive Active Imperative | *gʷenjezo | |||||
Future Active Imperative | *gʷenjetōd |
Participles | Present | Past |
---|---|---|
Tense | *gʷenjents | *gʷentos |
Verbal Nouns | tu-derivative | s-derivative |
Type | *gʷentum | *gʷenjezi |
Athematic verbs
Only a handful of verbs remained within this conjugation paradigm, derived from the original PIE Root Athematic verbs.
Example Conjugation: *ezom (copula, to be)
1st. Sing. | 2nd. Sing. | 3rd. Sing. | 1st. Plur. | 2nd. Plur. | 3rd. Plur. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Present Active Indicative | *ezom | *es | *est | *(e)somos | *(e)stes | *sent |
Past Active Indicative | *fuβam | *fuβas | *fuβad | *fuβamos | *fuβates | *fuβand |
Future Active Indicative | *fuzom | *fus | *fust | *fuzomos | *fustes | *fuzent |
Present Active Subjunctive | *ezom | *ezes | *ezed | *ezomos | *ezetes | *ezond |
Past Active Subjunctive | *fuzom, *essom | *fuzes, *esses | *fuzed, *essed | *fuzomos, *essomos | *fuzetes, *essetes | *fuzond, *essond |
Active Optative | *siēm | *siēs | *siēd | *sīmos | *sītes | *sīnd |
Present Active Imperative | *es | *este | ||||
Future Active Imperative | *estōd |
Participles | Present | Past |
---|---|---|
Tense | *sēnts | |
Verbal Nouns | tu-derivative | s-derivative |
Type | *essi |
In addition to these conjugations, Proto-Italic also has some deponent verbs, such as *ōdai (Perfect-Present), as well as *gnāskōr (Passive-Active).
Some examples of verb derivation from PIE in Proto-Italic
Pronoun | Verb (present) |
---|---|
I | *portāō < PIE *pr̥teh₂yóh₂ |
You | *portās < *pr̥teh₂yési |
He, she, it | *portāt < *pr̥teh₂yéti |
We | *portāmos < *pr̥teh₂yómos |
You (all) | *portāte < *pr̥teh₂yéte |
They | *portānt < *pr̥teh₂yónti |
Pronoun | Verb (present) |
---|---|
I | *moneō < PIE *monéyoh₂ |
You | *monēs < *monéyesi |
He, she, it | *monēt < *monéyeti |
We | *monēmos < *monéyomos |
You | *monēte < *monéyete |
They | *monēont < *monéyonti |
Pronoun | Verb (present) |
---|---|
I | *agō < PIE *h₂éǵoh₂ |
You | *ages < *h₂éǵesi |
He, she, it | *aget < *h₂éǵeti |
We | *agomos < *h₂éǵomos |
You (all) | *agete < *h₂éǵete |
They | *agont < *h₂éǵonti |
Pronoun | Verb (present) |
---|---|
I | *gʷəmjō < PIE *gʷm̥yóh₂ |
You | *gʷəmjes < *gʷm̥yési |
He, she, it | *gʷəmjet < *gʷm̥yéti |
We | *gʷəmjomos *gʷm̥yomos |
You (all) | *gʷəmjete < *gʷm̥yéte |
They | *gʷəmjont < *gʷm̥yónti |
Pronoun | Verb (present) |
---|---|
I | *ezom < PIE *h₁ésmi |
You | *es < *h₁ési |
He, she, it | *est < *h₁ésti |
We | *(e)somos < *h₁smós |
You (all) | *(e)stes < *h₁sté |
They | *sent < *h₁sénti |
Perfective formations
According to Rix, if a verb stem is present in both the Latino-Faliscan and Osco-Umbrian (Sabellian) branches, the present stem is identical in 90% of cases, but the perfect in only 50% of cases. This is likely because the original PIE aorist merged with the perfective aspect after the Proto-Italic period. Thus, the discrepancy in the similarities of present versus perfect stems in the two groupings of the Italic clade is likely attributed to different preservations in each group. The new common perfect stem in Latino-Faliscan derives mostly from the PIE perfective, while the perfect stem in Osco-Umbrian derives mostly from the PIE aorist.
In the Proto-Italic period, the root aorist of PIE was no longer productive. However, other PIE perfect and aorist stems continued to be productive, such as the reduplicated perfect and lengthened-vowel perfect stems, as well as the sigmatic aorist stem (found in Latin dīcō, dīxī).
Sometimes, multiple perfective forms for each stem are attested. For example, De Vaan gives the forms *fēk-, *fak- for the aorist stem of *fakiō, and the reduplicated perfect form <FHEFHAKED> is also attested on the Praeneste fibula in Old Latin.
In addition, there were some new innovations within the perfective aspect, with the -v- perfect (in Latin amō, amāvī) and the -u- perfect (moneō, monuī) being later innovations, for example.[citation needed]
Conjugation of the aorist
The aorist in Proto-Italic is characterized by the PIE secondary endings connected to the aorist stem by the appropriate thematic vowel. These endings are best attested in Sabellic, where aorist endings generally ousted the perfect ones; Latin instead generalized the perfect endings to its aorist-derived perfects.
The following stem formations for the aorist are known:
- The simple root aorist, formed by simply attaching aorist endings to an unsuffixed root. If ablaut is available for a root, the root is in the e-grade in the singular and zero-grade in the plural.
- The s-aorist, where the root in the e-grade is suffixed with -s- to make the aorist stem.
Person and number | Endings | Root aorist *fēk-/*fak- "did, made" | s-aorist *deiks- "said" |
---|---|---|---|
1st Sing. | *-om | *fēkom | *deiksom |
2nd Sing. | *-es | *fēkes | *deikses |
3rd Sing. | *-ed | *fēked | *deiksed |
1st Plur. | ? | ? | ? |
2nd Plur. | ? | ? | ? |
3rd Plur. | *-ond | *fakond | *deiksond |
Conjugation of the perfect
The other main type of perfective formation in Italic was the perfect, which was derived from the Proto-Indo-European stative and had its own set of endings.
Perfect stems are created by a reduplication process where a copy syllable consisting of the first consonant of the verb root followed by e is prefixed to the root. In Italic, Vine believes that the root either is in the zero grade or has the same vowel as the present stem, but De Vaan identified at least two perfects with o-grade in the root syllable. Latin and Sabellic also both attest a tendency in which if a root has a semivowel in the middle, this semivowel replaces e in the copy syllable. If a verb root begins in *s followed by a stop consonant, both consonants appear in the copy syllable and the root syllable loses the *s.
Root | Copy syllable | Root syllable | Perfect stem | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
*deh₃- "to give" | *de- | *d- | *ded- | Widely attested across Italic. Zero-grade root *-dh₃- resolves as non-syllabic when preceding a vowel. |
*perh₃- "to bring forth" | *pe- | *par- | *pepar- | Reduplication with *e in the copy syllable. Vine claims that the *a in the root syllable is taken from the present stem *parj-; but this is unnecessary, as zero-grade *-prh₃- would yield *-par- anyhow. |
*pewǵ- "to prick" | *pu- | *pug- | *pupug- | Semivowel instead of *e in the copy syllable. |
*dʰeyǵʰ- "to form" | *θi- | *θiɣ- | *θiθiɣ- | |
*telh₂- "to bear" | *te- | *tol- | *tetol- | Reduplication with *e in the copy syllable, but oddly, o-grade in the root syllable. |
*deḱ- "to take (in)" | *de- | *dok- | *dedok- | Another perfect with o-grade in the root syllable. Corresponding Latin didicī has the copy syllable vowel replaced by i by analogy with present discō "I learn". |
The perfect endings in Italic, which only survive in the Latino-Faliscan languages, are derived from the original PIE stative endings, but with an extra -i added after most of them.
An additional suffix -is- of difficult-to-trace origin was added in the evolution of Latin to the 2nd-person endings.
Perfect | Endings | Latin endings |
---|---|---|
1st Sing. | *-ai | -ī |
2nd Sing. | *-tai | -istī |
3rd Sing. | *-ei | -īt |
1st Plur. | ? | -imus |
2nd Plur. | *-e | -istis |
3rd Plur. | *-ēri | -ēre |
- Extended by mystery suffix -is-
- Appears in Plautus, remodelled with -t from the present endings. Replaced by short-vowel -it derived from the aorist endings otherwise.
- Ending reshaped after the present active endings.
- Extended by *-ond from the aorist endings to form the usual ending -ērunt.
Post-Italic developments
Further changes occurred during the evolution of individual Italic languages. This section gives an overview of the most notable changes. For complete lists, see History of Latin and other articles relating to the individual languages.
- *x debuccalises to [h]. *ɣ similarly becomes [ɦ] between vowels, but remains elsewhere. This change possibly took place within the Proto-Italic period. The result, whether [h] or [ɦ], was written h in all Italic languages. Initial *xl, *xr are reflected (in Latin at least) as gl, gr
- *θ(e)r, *ð(e)r > *f(e)r, *β(e)r in all but Venetic. Compare Venetic louder-obos to Latin līber, Faliscan loifir-ta, Oscan lúvfreis.
- *β, *ð> Latin b, d. In Osco-Umbrian the result is f (probably voiced) for both. In Faliscan, *β remains a fricative.
- *ɣʷ > *gʷ in Latin, which then develops as below. > f in Osco-Umbrian.
- *dw > b in classical Latin, although still retained in the archaic (see Duenos inscription)
- *kʷ, *gʷ > p, b in Osco-Umbrian. They are retained in Latino-Faliscan and Venetic. In Latin, *gʷ > v [w] except after *n.
- *z > r in Classical Latin and Umbrian, but not in Old Latin or Oscan.
- Final -ā (fem. sg. nom., neut. pl. nom./acc.) > [oː] in Osco-Umbrian, but becomes short -a in Latin.
- Final *-ns (acc. pl. of various noun classes), *-nts (masc. nom. sg. of participles), and *-nt (neut. nom./acc. sg. of participles) developed in complex ways:
PItal | Pre-O-U | Oscan | Umbrian | Pre-Latin | Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
*-ns | *-ns | -ss | -f | *-ns | -s |
*-nts | *-nts | -ns | |||
*-nt | *-nts | -ns | — |
- Latin vowel reduction, during the Old Latin period. This merged many of the unstressed short vowels; most dramatically, all short vowels merged (usually to /i/) in open medial syllables. Furthermore, all diphthongs became pure vowels except for *ai and *au (and occasionally *oi) in initial syllables.
See also
- Italo-Celtic
References
- "Immigrants from the North". CUP Archive – via Google Books.
- Bossong 2017, p. 859.
- Baumer, Christoph (December 11, 2012). The History of Central Asia: The Age of the Steppe Warriors. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-060-5 – via Google Books.
- Blench, Roger; Spriggs, Matthew (September 2, 2003). Archaeology and Language I: Theoretical and Methodological Orientations. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-82877-7 – via Google Books.
- Silvestri 1998, p. 326
- Sihler 1995, p. 228.
- Silvestri 1998, p. 325
- De Vaan 2008, p. 8.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 205–206.
- Bakkum 2009, pp. 58–61.
- Silvestri 1998, p. 332
- De Vaan 2008, p. 6.
- Meiser, Gerhard (2018). "The phonology of Italic". In Brian Joseph; Matthias Fritz; Jared Klein (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. De Gruyter. p. 747.
- Weiss, Michael L. (2009). Outline of the historical and comparative grammar of Latin. Ann Arbor: Beech Stave Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-9747927-5-0.
- M. de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin, 2008, Brill, p. 9; B. Vine, 2006: “On ‘Thurneysen-Havet’s Law’ in Latin and Italic”; Historische Sprachforschung 119, 211–249.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 256–265.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 29.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 314.
- Sihler 1995, p. 259.
- Sihler 1995, p. 387.
- Weiss 2012, p. 165.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 266–272.
- Sihler 1995, p. 268.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 283–286.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 409-410.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 134-135.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 315–319.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 372.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 365.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 316–317.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 319–327.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 482.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 136-137.
- Sihler 1995, p. 323.
- Sihler 1995, p. 324.
- Sihler 1995, pp. 325–326.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 187.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 507-508.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 284, 310, 323–324, 426.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 179.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 387.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 651-652.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 185-186.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 661.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 599.
- Rix 2002.
- Piwowarczyk, Dariusz (2011). "Formations of the perfect in the Sabellic languages with the Italic and Indo-European background". Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis. 128 (128). Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego: 103–126. doi:10.2478/v10148-011-0017-1. ISSN 1897-1059. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- Vine 2017, p. 789.
- De Vaan 2008, pp. 445–446.
- De Vaan 2008, p. 172.
- Vine 2017, pp. 792–793.
- Sihler 1995, p. 266.
- Sihler 1995, p. 230.
Footnotes
- Written o in the Latin alphabet, but ú in the native Oscan alphabet, and u or sometimes a in the native Umbrian alphabet. See Sihler 1995:266.
Bibliography
- Bakkum, Gabriël C.L.M. (2009), The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 Years of Scholarship:Part I, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, ISBN 978-90-5629-562-2
- Bossong, Georg (2017). "The Evolution of Italic". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 2. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-054243-1.
- Pocetti, Paolo (2017). "The Phonology of Italic". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 2. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-054243-1.
- Vine, Brent (2017). "The Morphology of Italic". In Klein, Jared; Joseph, Brian; Fritz, Matthias (eds.). Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics. Vol. 2. Walter de Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110523874-003. ISBN 978-3-11-054243-1.
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008). Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-16797-1.
- Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508345-8
- Silvestri, Domenico (1998), "The Italic Languages", in Ramat, Anna Giacalone; Ramat, Paolo (eds.), The Indo-European languages, Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 322–344
- Rix, Helmut (2002). "Towards a reconstruction of Proto-Italic" (PDF). Program in Indo-European Studies. UCLA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- Wallace, Rex (2017). "Italic". In Mate Kapović (ed.). The Indo-European Languages (2nd ed.). London, New York: Routledge. pp. 317–351. ISBN 978-1-315-67855-9.
- Weiss, Michael (2012). "Italo-Celtica: Linguistic and Cultural Points of Contact between Italic and Celtic". In Stephanie W. Jamison; H. Craig Melchert; Brent Vine (eds.). Proceedings of the 23rd Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference. Bremen: Hempen. pp. 151–173.
Further reading
- Heidermanns, Frank (2002). "Nominal Composition In Sabellic And Proto–Italic". Transactions of the Philological Society. 100 (2): 185–202. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.00096. ISSN 0079-1636.
The Proto Italic language is the ancestor of the Italic languages most notably Latin and its descendants the Romance languages It is not directly attested in writing but has been reconstructed to some degree through the comparative method Proto Italic descended from the earlier Proto Indo European language Proto ItalicReconstruction ofItalic languagesRegionItalian PeninsulaErac 1000 BCReconstructed ancestorProto Indo EuropeanLower order reconstructionsProto Latino Faliscan Proto SabellicDistribution of Italic languages in antiquity citation needed HistoryAlthough an equation between archeological and linguistic evidence cannot be established with certainty the Proto Italic language is generally associated with the Terramare 1700 1150 BC and Villanovan cultures 900 700 BC On the other hand work in glottochronology has argued that Proto Italic split off from the western Proto Indo European dialects some time before 2500 BC It was originally spoken by Italic tribes north of the Alps before they moved south into the Italian Peninsula during the second half of the 2nd millennium BC Linguistic evidence also points to early contacts with Celtic tribes and Proto Germanic speakers DevelopmentA list of regular phonetic changes from Proto Indo European to Proto Italic follows Because Latin is the only well attested Italic language it forms the main source for the reconstruction of Proto Italic It is therefore not always clear whether certain changes apply to all of Italic a pre PI change or only to Latin a post PI change because of lack of conclusive evidence Obstruents Palatovelars merged with plain velars a change termed centumization ḱ gt k ǵ gt g ǵʰ gt gʰ Sequences of palatovelars and w merged with labiovelars ḱw ǵw ǵʰw gt kʷ gʷ gʷʰ p kʷ gt kʷ kʷ a change also found in Celtic Labiovelars lose their labialisation before a consonant kʷC gʷC gʷʰC gt kC gC gʰC Obstruent consonants become unaspirated voiceless before another voiceless consonant usually s or t Voiced aspirates become fricatives Word initially they become voiceless while they are allophonically voiced word medially Judging from Oscan evidence they apparently remained fricatives even after a nasal consonant In most other Italic languages they developed into stops later in that position bʰ gt f medially b dʰ gt 8 medially d gʰ gt x medially ɣ gʷʰ gt xʷ medially ɣʷ s was also allophonically voiced to z word medially sr zr gt 8r dr clarification needed 8 xʷ gt f Found in Venetic vhagsto hvagsto compare Latin faciō The voiced allophones d and ɣʷ remained distinct from b in Latin and Venetic but also merged in Osco Umbrian tl gt kl word medially Final t became dVowels and sonorants l r gt ol or m n gt em en see below on Vowels j is lost between vowels The resulting vowels in hiatus contract into a long vowel if the two vowels are the same ew gt ow o gt a in open syllables after labials and l mj gt nj Laryngeals The laryngeals are a class of hypothetical PIE sounds h h h that usually disappeared in late PIE leaving coloring effects on adjacent vowels Their disappearance left some distinctive sound combinations in Proto Italic In the changes below the follows standard practice in denoting a word boundary that is at the beginning denotes word initial H denotes any of the three laryngeals The simpler Italic developments of laryngeals are shared by many other Indo European branches h e gt e h e gt a h e gt o eh gt e eh gt a eh gt ō H gt a between obstruents Laryngeals are lost word initially before a consonant More characteristic of Italic are the interactions of laryngeals with sonorant consonants Here R represents a sonorant and C a consonant HRC gt aRC and CHRC gt CaRC but HRV gt RV CRHC gt CRaC but CRHV gt CaRV CiHC and probably CHiC gt CiCMorphology General loss of the dual with only a few relics remaining Loss of the instrumental case PhonologyConsonants Proto Italic consonants Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial velarNasal m n ŋ Plosive p b t d k ɡ kʷ ɡʷFricative ɸ b 8 d s z x ɣ xʷ ɣʷ Trill rLateral lApproximant j w ŋ was an allophone of n before a velar consonant The voiced fricatives b d ɣ ɣʷ and z were in complementary distribution with word initial voiceless fricatives ɸ 8 x xʷ and s and were thus originally simply allophones of each other However at some point in the Proto Italic period the allophony was somewhat disrupted by the loss of the voiceless allophones 8 and xʷ which merged with ɸ Scholars who disagree on whether to reconstruct Proto Italic with the phonemes 8 d and xʷ ɣʷ still present hence assuming that the merger with ɸ was a later areal change that spread across all extant dialects possibly occurring simultaneous with or after the loss of the corresponding voiced fricatives or to reconstruct Proto Italic with the phonemes voiceless allophones merged into ɸ b and their voiced allophones becoming independent phonemes d ɣʷ Both of these sounds are relatively uncommon cross linguistically and eventually they were eliminated in all later languages but differently in each Vowels Short vowels Front Central BackClose i uMid e e oOpen a Long vowels Front Central BackClose iː uːMid eː oːOpen aː e was perhaps not a true phoneme but was inserted before consonants as a prop vowel It can be reconstructed based on the outcome of the Proto Indo European syllabic nasals m and n which appear in Latin as em en or im in but also as am an in Osco Umbrian alongside em en Thus it appears necessary to reconstruct e as a distinct sound However Meiser reconstructs a nasal vowel ẽ as this prop vowel citing how Old French ẽ evolved to modern French ɑ as a parallel Proto Italic had the following diphthongs Short ai ei oi au ou Long ai ei ōi Osthoff s law remained productive in Proto Italic This caused long vowels to shorten when they were followed by a sonorant and another consonant in the same syllable VːRC gt VRC As the long diphthongs were also VːR sequences they could only occur word finally and were shortened elsewhere Long vowels were also shortened before word final m This is the cause of the many occurrences of short a in for example the endings of the a stems or of a verbs Prosody Proto Italic words may have had a fixed stress on the first syllable a stress pattern which probably existed in most descendants in at least some periods In Latin initial stress is posited for the Old Latin period after which it gave way to the Classical stress pattern However fixed initial stress may alternatively be an areal feature postdating Proto Italic since the vowel reductions which it is posited to explain are not found before the mid first millennium BC Furthermore the persistence of Proto Indo European mobile accent is required in early Proto Italic for Brent Vine s 2006 reformulation of Thurneysen Havet s law where pre tonic ou gt au to work GrammarNouns Nouns could have one of three genders masculine feminine and neuter They declined for seven of the eight Proto Indo European cases nominative vocative accusative genitive dative ablative and locative The instrumental case had been lost Nouns also declined for number in singular and plural The dual number was no longer distinguished although a few remnants like Latin duo ambō still preserved some form of the inherited dual inflection o stems This class corresponds to the second declension of Latin basically divided into masculine and neuter nouns It descends from the Proto Indo European thematic declension Most nouns in this class were masculine or neuter but there may have been some feminine nouns as well e g names of plants such as Latin papyrus o stem declension agros m field jugom n yoke Singular Plural Singular PluralNominative agros lt PIE h eǵros agrōs lt PIE h eǵroes agroi jugom lt PIE yugom juga lt PIE yugeh Vocative agre lt h eǵre agrōs lt h eǵroes agroi Accusative agrom lt h eǵrom agrons lt h eǵromsGenitive agrosjo lt h eǵrosyo agri agrom lt h eǵroHom jugosjo lt yugosyo jugi jugom lt yugoHomDative agrōi lt h eǵroey agrois lt h eǵroysu jugōi lt yugoey jugois lt yugoysu Ablative agrōd lt h eǵread jugōd lt yugeadLocative agroi lt h eǵroy agrei lt h eǵrey jugoi lt yugoy jugei lt yugeyThe genitive singular in i is of unknown origin but is found in both Italic and Celtic It mostly ousted the older inherited genitive in osjo in Latin The older form is found in a few inscriptions such as popliosio valesiosio on the Lapis Satricanus likely rendered as Publii Valerii in classical Latin It is also continued in some pronominal genitives such as cuius lt kʷojjo s lt PIE kʷosjo with s added by analogy with the consonant stem genitive in os In Osco Umbrian neither ending survives being replaced with eis the i stem ending The nominative plural was originally ōs for nouns and adjectives and oi for pronominal forms The distribution in Proto Italic is unclear but both endings certainly still existed The ōs ending was replaced altogether in Latin in favour of oi whence the classical i In Osco Umbrian the reverse happened where oi was replaced with ōs whence Oscan us Umbrian us In Old Latin the genitive plural was still generally om later um It was then reformed based on the a stem form azom giving the classical ōrum Neuter o stems also had a dual ending oi lt oyh surviving in some Latin relics like caelum sky frenum bridle and rastrum rake whose plurals end in i instead of a a stems This class corresponds to the first declension of Latin It derives primarily from Proto Indo European nouns in eh and contained mostly feminine nouns and maybe a few masculines such as names of jobs in Classical Latin some of them being loanwords from Ancient Greek e g incola nauta poeta a stem declension farba lt earlier farda f beardSingular PluralNominative farba lt PIE bʰardʰeh farbas lt PIE bʰardʰeh esVocative farba lt bʰardʰeh Accusative farbam lt bʰardʰa m farbans lt bʰardʰeh m sGenitive farbas lt bʰardʰeh s farbazom lt PIE bʰardʰeh soHom lt bʰardʰeh oHomDative farbai lt bʰardʰeh ey farbais lt bʰardʰeh su Ablative farbad lt bʰardʰeh sLocative farbai lt bʰardʰeh iThe accusative singular ending would have been am originally due to shortening of long vowels before final m However a long vowel is found in the attested forms This long vowel most likely arose by analogy with the other endings that have a long vowel The genitive plural ending was originally a pronominal form PIE eh soHom The genitive singular in s still used in Old Latin went extinct in Classical Latin except in the fixed expression Pater familias Consonant stems This class contained nouns with stems ending in a variety of consonants They included root nouns n stems r stems s stems and t stems among others It corresponds to the third declension of Latin which also includes the i stems originally a distinct class Masculine and feminine nouns declined alike while neuters had different forms in the nominative accusative vocative Consonant stem declension sniks f snow kord n heart Singular Plural Singular PluralNominative Vocative sniks lt PIE sneygʷʰs sniɣʷes lt PIE sneygʷʰes kord lt PIE ḱr d korda lt PIE ḱerdh Accusative sniɣʷem lt sneygʷʰm sniɣʷens lt sneygʷʰm sGenitive sniɣʷes lt snigʷʰes sniɣʷos sniɣʷom lt snigʷʰoHom kordes lt ḱr des kordos kordom lt ḱr doHomDative sniɣʷei lt snigʷʰey sniɣʷ V bos lt snigʷʰmos kordei lt ḱr dey kord V bos lt ḱr dmosAblative sniɣʷi lt snigʷʰes sniɣʷa kordi lt ḱr des korde Locative sniɣʷi lt sneygʷʰi kordi lt ḱerdi Nouns in this class often had a somewhat irregular nominative singular form This created several subtypes based on the final consonant of the stem For most consonant stem nouns the ending of the nominative vocative singular was s for masculine and feminine nouns This ending would cause devoicing delabialisation and or hardening of the stem final consonant as seen in sniks above Neuter nouns had no ending n stems generally had the ending ō with the infix on or maybe en in the other cases e g PIt sermō sermōnes in which mō derives from PIE mō lt mons On the other hand neuters had en in the nom voc acc singular while the stem of the remaining forms is unclear An example is kreimen kreimenVs from PIE kreymn in which mn is related to mons r stems had er alternating with e r The alternation in vowel length was lost in Latin but is preserved in Oscan s stems had ōs for masculines and feminines or os for neuters This alternated with ez or maybe oz in some masculine feminine nouns in the other forms The r n stems were a small group of neuter nouns These had or in the nominative vocative accusative singular but e n in the remaining forms Other notes The genitive singular had two possible endings Both are attested side by side in Old Latin although the ending es is may also be from the i stems see below In Osco Umbrian only the i stem ending eis is found The Latin masculine nominative plural ending es with a long vowel was taken from the i stems The neuter nominative vocative accusative plural originally had short a as the ending or lengthening of the vowel before the final consonant Already in Italic this was replaced with the o stem ending a The dative and ablative locative plural ending would have originally been added directly to the stem with no intervening vowel In Latin there is an intervening e or i while in Osco Umbrian the ending is replaced altogether It s not clear what the Proto Italic situation was i stems This class corresponds to the nouns of the Latin third declension that had the genitive plural ending ium rather than um In Latin the consonant stems gradually merged with this class This process continued into the historical era e g in Caesar s time c 50 BC the i stems still had a distinct accusative plural ending is but this was replaced with the consonant stem ending es by the time of Augustus c AD 1 In Proto Italic as in the other Italic languages i stems were still very much a distinct type and showed no clear signs of merging Masculine and feminine nouns declined alike while neuters had different forms in the nominative accusative vocative Endings mentis f mind mari n sea lake Singular Plural Singular PluralNominative Vocative mentis lt PIE mentis mentes lt PIE menteyes mari lt PIE mori marja ia lt mari lt PIE morih Accusative mentim lt mentim mentins lt mentimsGenitive menteis lt mn teys mentjes mentjom lt mn teyoHom mareis lt m reys marjes marjom lt m reyoHomDative mentei lt mn teyey mentibos lt mn timos marei lt m reyey maribos lt m rimosAblative mentid lt mn teys marid lt m reysLocative mentei lt mn tey marei lt m reyThere were apparently two different forms for the genitive singular The form eis is found in Osco Umbrian However es appears in early Latin while there is no sign of eis This could reflect the consonant stem ending but it could also come from jes Compare also wos of the u stems which is attested in Old Latin and may represent a parallel formation The original form of the neuter nominative vocative accusative plural was i from PIE ih Already in Italic this was extended by adding the o stem ending to it thus culminating into either ia or ja u stems This class corresponds to the fourth declension of Latin They were historically parallel to the i stems and still showed many similar forms with j i being replaced with w u However sound changes had made them somewhat different over time Endings portus m harbour port peḱu n cattle Singular Plural Singular PluralNominative Vocative portus lt PIE pertus portowes lt PIE pertewes portous peku u lt PIE peḱu pekwa ua lt peku lt PIE peḱuh Accusative portum lt pertum portuns lt pertumsGenitive portous lt pr tews portwos portwes portwom lt pr tewoHom pekous lt pḱews pekwos pekwes pekwom owom lt pḱewoHomDative portowei lt pr tewey portubos lt pr tumos pekowei lt pḱewey pekubos lt pḱumosAblative portud lt pr tews pekud lt pḱewsLocative portowi lt pr tewi pekou lt pḱew pekowi lt pḱewiThe neuter nominative vocative accusative singular must have originally been short u but in Latin only long u is found It is unclear what the origin of this could be It may be a remnant of a dual ending considering that neuter u stems were rare and the few that survived tended to occur in pairs Like the i stems the u stems had two possible types of genitive singular ending with an unclear distribution ous is found in Oscan and it is also the origin of the usual Latin ending us However the Senatus consultum de Bacchanalibus inscription attests senatvos and the ending uis from wes is also found in a few sources The masculine feminine nominative vocative plural is not securely reconstructable Latin us seems to reflect ous but from PIE ewes the form owes Latin uis would be expected The ending is not attested in Osco Umbrian or Old Latin which might have otherwise given conclusive evidence The original form of the neuter nominative vocative accusative plural was u Already in Italic this was extended by adding the o stem ending to it like in the i stems thus culminating in either wa or ua Adjectives Adjectives inflected much the same as nouns Unlike nouns adjectives did not have inherent genders Instead they inflected for all three genders taking on the same gender form as the noun they referred to Adjectives followed the same inflectional classes of nouns The largest were the o a stem adjectives which inflected as o stems in the masculine and neuter and as a stems in the feminine and the i stems Present active participles of verbs in nts and the comparative forms of adjectives in jōs inflected as consonant stems There were also u stem adjectives originally but they had been converted to i stems by adding i stem endings onto the existing u stem thus giving the nominative singular wis albos a om white Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine pl Feminine pl Neuter pl Nom albos lt PIE albʰos alba lt PIE albʰeh albom lt PIE albʰom albōs lt albʰoes alboi albas lt albʰeh es alba lt albʰeh Gen albosjo lt albʰosyo albi albas lt albʰeh s albosjo lt albʰosyo albi albom lt albʰoHom albazōm lt PIE albʰeh soHom lt albʰeh oHom albom lt albʰoHomDat albōi lt albʰoey albai lt albʰeh ey albōi lt albʰoey albois lt albʰoysu albais lt albʰeh su albois lt albʰoysuAcc albom lt albʰom albam lt albʰa m albom lt albʰom albons lt albʰoms albans lt albʰeh m s alba lt albʰeh Voc albe lt albʰe alba lt albʰeh albom lt albʰom albōs lt albʰoes alboi albas lt albʰeh es alba lt albʰeh Abl albōd lt albʰead albad lt albʰeh s albōd lt albʰead albois lt albʰoysu albais lt albʰeh su albois lt albʰoysuLoc albei lt albʰey albai lt albʰeh i albei lt albʰey albois lt albʰoysu albais lt albʰeh su albois lt albʰoysuPronouns Declension of Personal Pronouns Singular 1st Person 2nd Person ReflexiveNominative egō lt PIE eǵh tu lt PIE tuh Accusative me me lt me te te lt twe te se se lt PIE swe seGenitive moi mei lt moy toi tei lt toy tewe soi swei lt soy seweDative meɣei lt meǵʰye tebei lt tebʰye sebei lt sebʰyeAblative med lt h med ted lt twet sed lt swetPossessive meos lt PIE mewos meyos lt h mos towos lt PIE tewos lt twos sowos lt PIE sewos lt swosPlural 1st Person 2nd Person ReflexiveNominative nōs lt nos wōs lt wos Accusative nōs lt nos wōs lt wos se seGenitive nosterom lt n s er o westerom lt yus er o soi sweiDative nōbei lt n smey wōbei lt usmey sebeiAblative sedPossessive nosteros lt nsteros westeros lt usteros sowos Note For the third person pronoun Proto Italic is would have been used Declension of Relative Pronouns Singular Masculine Neuter FeminineNominative kʷoi lt PIE kʷos kʷo kʷod lt PIE kʷod kʷai lt PIE kʷeh AccusativeGenitive kʷojjos lt kʷosyoDative kʷojjei kʷozmoi lt kʷosmeyAblative kʷōd lt kʷosmōd kʷad lt Locative lt kʷosmi lt kʷosmi Plural Masculine Neuter FeminineNominative kʷoi kʷōs kʷa kʷai kʷasAccusative kʷons kʷansGenitive kʷozom kʷazomDative kʷoisAblativeLocative Declension of Interrogative Pronouns Singular Masculine Feminine NeuterNominative kʷis lt PIE kʷis kʷid lt PIE kʷidAccusative kʷim lt kʷimGenitive kʷejjos lt kʷesyoDative kʷejjei kʷezmoi lt kʷesmeyAblative kʷōd lt kʷed kʷad lt kʷed kʷōd lt kʷed Locative lt kʷesmi lt kʷesmi lt kʷesmiPlural Masculine Feminine NeuterNominative kʷes lt kʷeyes kʷi kʷia lt kʷih Accusative kʷins lt kʷimsGenitive kʷejzom kʷozom lt kʷeysomDative kʷibos lt kʷeybʰ AblativeLocative Declension of Demonstrative Pronouns is this that Singular Masculine Neuter FeminineNominative is lt PIE is id lt PIE id eja lt PIE ih Accusative im lt im ejam lt ih mGenitive ejjos lt esyoDative ejjei esmoi lt esyeh ey esmeyAblative ejōd lt esmod ejad lt esyoLocative lt esmi lt esmi Plural Masculine Neuter FeminineNominative ejōs ejoi lt eyes eja lt ih ejas lt ih esAccusative ejons lt ins ejans lt ih msGenitive ejozom lt eysom ejazom lt eysoHomDative ejois lt eymos ejais lt ih mos AblativeLocative lt eysu lt eysu lt ih suNumbers Number PIt PIEOne 1 I oinos h oynosTwo 2 II duō dwoh Three 3 III trejes gt tres treyesFour 4 IV kʷettwōr kʷetwṓr gen plur lt kʷetworesFive 5 V kʷenkʷe penkʷeSix 6 VI seks sweḱsSeven 7 VII septem septḿ Eight 8 VIII oktō oḱtṓwNine 9 IX nowem h newn Ten 10 X dekem deḱm tVerbs Present formations From Proto Indo European the Proto Italic present aspect changed in a couple of ways Firstly a new past indicative suffix of b was created This likely occurred due to the elision of word final i within the Indo European primary verb endings E g PIE Present Indicative h esti gt PIt est but also PIE Past Indicative h est Secondly the desiderative suffix of s so became the future suffix in Proto Italic The subjunctive of this desiderative future with a suffix of both s and a lengthening of the following vowel was used to represent a potentialis and irrealis mood Finally while the subjunctive and the optative of PIE were still in principle different moods the moods became merged in Post PIt developments E g PIt subjunctive esed vs optative sied which became Latin present subjunctive sit this can be already seen in the Proto Italic phase where the subjunctive mood began to take secondary endings as opposed to the primary endings they exhibited in PIE c f the Sabellian reflex of the PIt 3rd person singular imperfect subjunctive being d and not t The PIE dual person was also lost within PIt verbs just as it was in PIt nouns First conjugation This conjugation pattern was derived from the PIE suffix eh ye ti and formed primarily denominative verbs I e deriving from a noun or an adjective Example Conjugation dōna to give 1st Sing 2nd Sing 3rd Sing 1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur Present Active Indicative dōnaō dōnas dōnat dōnamos dōnates dōnantPresent Passive Indicative dōnaor dōnazo dōnator dōnamor dōnamenai dōnantorPast Active Indicative dōnabam dōnabas dōnabad dōnabamos dōnabates dōnabandPast Passive Indicative dōnabar dōnabazo dōnabator dōnabamor dōnabamenai dōnabantorFuture Active Indicative dōnasō dōnases dōnast dōnasomos dōnastes dōnasontFuture Passive Indicative dōnasor dōnasezo dōnastor dōnasomor dōnasemenai dōnasontorPresent Active Subjunctive dōnaōm dōnaes dōnaed dōnaōmos dōnaetes dōnaōndPresent Passive Subjunctive dōnaōr dōnaezo dōnaetor dōnaōmor dōnaemenai dōnaōntorPast Active Subjunctive dōnasōm dōnases dōnased dōnasōmos dōnasetes dōnasōndPast Passive Subjunctive dōnasōr dōnasezo dōnasetor dōnasōmor dōnasemenai dōnasōntorActive Optative dōnaojam dōnaojas dōnaojad dōnaojamos dōnaojates dōnaojandPassive Optative dōnaojar dōnaojazo dōnaojator dōnaojamor dōnaojamenai dōnaojantorPresent Active Imperative dōna dōnatePassive Active Imperative dōnazoFuture Active Imperative dōnatōdParticiples Present PastTense dōnants dōnatosVerbal Nouns tu derivative s derivativeType dōnatum dōnaziSecond conjugation causative This conjugation pattern was derived from PIE eyeti and formed causative verbs I e expressing a cause from basic 3rd conjugation verbs Example Conjugation mone to warn 1st Sing 2nd Sing 3rd Sing 1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur Present Active Indicative moneō mones monet monemos monetes moneontPresent Passive Indicative moneor monezo monetor monemor monemenai moneontorPast Active Indicative monebam monebas monebad monebamos monebates monebandPast Passive Indicative monebar monebazo monebator monebamor monebamenai monebantorFuture Active Indicative monesō moneses monest monesomos monestes monesontFuture Passive Indicative monesor monesezo monestor monesomor monesemenai monesontorPresent Active Subjunctive moneōm monees moneed moneōmos moneetes moneōndPresent Passive Subjunctive moneōr moneezo moneetor moneōmor moneemenai moneōntorPast Active Subjunctive monesōm monese s monese d monesōmos monese tes monesōndPast Passive Subjunctive monesōr monese zo monese tor monesōmor monese menai monesōntorActive Optative moneojam moneojas moneojad moneojamos moneojates moneojandPassive Optative moneojar moneojazo moneojator moneojamor moneojamenai moneojantorPresent Active Imperative mone monetePassive Active Imperative monezoFuture Active Imperative monetōdParticiples Present PastTense monents monetosVerbal Nouns tu derivative s derivativeType monetum moneziSecond conjugation stative This conjugation pattern was derived from PIE eh ti or the extended form eh yeti and formed stative verbs I e indicating a state of being Example Conjugation wale to be strong 1st Sing 2nd Sing 3rd Sing 1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur Present Active Indicative waleō wales walet walemos waletes walentPresent Passive Indicative waleor walezo waletor walemor walemenai walentorPast Active Indicative walebam walebas walebad walebamos walebates walebandPast Passive Indicative walebar walebazo walebator walebamor walebamenai walebantorFuture Active Indicative walesō waleses walest walesomos walestes walesontFuture Passive Indicative walesor walesezo walestor walesomor walesemenai walesontorPresent Active Subjunctive waleōm walees waleed waleōmos waleetes waleōndPresent Passive Subjunctive waleōr waleezo waleetor waleōmor waleemenai waleōntorPast Active Subjunctive walesōm walese s walese d walesōmos walese tes walesōndPast Passive Subjunctive walesōr walese zo walese tor walesōmor walese menai walesōntorActive Optative waleojam waleojas waleojad waleojamos waleojates waleojandPassive Optative waleojar waleojazo waleojator waleojamor waleojamenai waleojantorPresent Active Imperative wale waletePassive Active Imperative walezoFuture Active Imperative waletōdParticiples Present PastTense walents walatosVerbal Nouns tu derivative s derivativeType walatum waleziThird Conjugation The bulk of Proto Italic verbs were third conjugation verbs which were derived from Proto Indo European root thematic verbs However some are derived from other PIE verb classes such as linkʷō PIE nasal infix verbs and dikskō PIE sḱe suffix verbs Example Conjugation ed e o to eat 1st Sing 2nd Sing 3rd Sing 1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur Present Active Indicative edō edes edet edomos edetes edontPresent Passive Indicative edor edezo edetor edomor edemenai edontorPast Active Indicative edobam edobas edobad edobamos edobates edobandPast Passive Indicative edobar edobazo edobator edobamor edobamenai edobantorFuture Active Indicative edesō edeses edest edesomos edestes edesontFuture Passive Indicative edesor edesezo edestor edesomor edesemenai edesontorPresent Active Subjunctive edōm ede s ede d edōmos ede tes edōndPresent Passive Subjunctive edōr ede zo ede tor edōmor ede menai edōntorPast Active Subjunctive edesōm edese s edese d edesōmos edese tes edesōndPast Passive Subjunctive edesōr edese zo edese tor edesōmor edese menai edesōntorActive Optative edojam edojas edojad edojamos edojates edojandPassive Optative edojar edojazo edojator edojamor edojamenai edojantorPresent Active Imperative ede edetePassive Active Imperative edezoFuture Active Imperative edetōdParticiples Present PastTense edents essosVerbal Nouns tu derivative s derivativeType essum edeziThird conjugation jō variant This conjugation was derived from PIE ye suffix verbs and went on to form most of Latin 3rd conjugation io variant verbs as well as some 4th conjugation verbs Example Conjugation gʷen jo je to come from earlier gʷemjō 1st Sing 2nd Sing 3rd Sing 1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur Present Active Indicative gʷenjō gʷenjes gʷenjet gʷenjomos gʷenjetes gʷenjontPresent Passive Indicative gʷenjor gʷenjezo gʷenjetor gʷenjomor gʷenjemenai gʷenjontorPast Active Indicative gʷenjobam gʷenjobas gʷenjobad gʷenjobamos gʷenjobates gʷenjobandPast Passive Indicative gʷenjobar gʷenjobazo gʷenjobator gʷenjobamor gʷenjobamenai gʷenjobantorFuture Active Indicative gʷenjesō gʷenjeses gʷenjest gʷenjesomos gʷenjestes gʷenjesontFuture Passive Indicative gʷenjesor gʷenjesezo gʷenjestor gʷenjesomor gʷenjesemenai gʷenjesontorPresent Active Subjunctive gʷenjōm gʷenje s gʷenje d gʷenjōmos gʷenje tes gʷenjōndPresent Passive Subjunctive gʷenjōr gʷenje zo gʷenje tor gʷenjōmor gʷenje menai gʷenjōntorPast Active Subjunctive gʷenjesōm gʷenjese s gʷenjese d gʷenjesōmos gʷenjese tes gʷenjesōndPast Passive Subjunctive gʷenjesōr gʷenjese zo gʷenjese tor gʷenjesōmor gʷenjese menai gʷenjesōntorActive Optative gʷenjojam gʷenjojas gʷenjojad gʷenjojamos gʷenjojates gʷenjojandPassive Optative gʷenjojar gʷenjojazo gʷenjojator gʷenjojamor gʷenjojamenai gʷenjojantorPresent Active Imperative gʷenje gʷenjetePassive Active Imperative gʷenjezoFuture Active Imperative gʷenjetōdParticiples Present PastTense gʷenjents gʷentosVerbal Nouns tu derivative s derivativeType gʷentum gʷenjeziAthematic verbs Only a handful of verbs remained within this conjugation paradigm derived from the original PIE Root Athematic verbs Example Conjugation ezom copula to be 1st Sing 2nd Sing 3rd Sing 1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur Present Active Indicative ezom es est e somos e stes sentPast Active Indicative fubam fubas fubad fubamos fubates fubandFuture Active Indicative fuzom fus fust fuzomos fustes fuzentPresent Active Subjunctive ezom ezes ezed ezomos ezetes ezondPast Active Subjunctive fuzom essom fuzes esses fuzed essed fuzomos essomos fuzetes essetes fuzond essondActive Optative siem sies sied simos sites sindPresent Active Imperative es esteFuture Active Imperative estōdParticiples Present PastTense sentsVerbal Nouns tu derivative s derivativeType essi In addition to these conjugations Proto Italic also has some deponent verbs such as ōdai Perfect Present as well as gnaskōr Passive Active Some examples of verb derivation from PIE in Proto Italic portaō to bring I Pronoun Verb present I portaō lt PIE pr teh yoh You portas lt pr teh yesiHe she it portat lt pr teh yetiWe portamos lt pr teh yomosYou all portate lt pr teh yeteThey portant lt pr teh yonti moneō to warn II Pronoun Verb present I moneō lt PIE moneyoh You mones lt moneyesiHe she it monet lt moneyetiWe monemos lt moneyomosYou monete lt moneyeteThey moneont lt moneyonti agō to lead III Pronoun Verb present I agō lt PIE h eǵoh You ages lt h eǵesiHe she it aget lt h eǵetiWe agomos lt h eǵomosYou all agete lt h eǵeteThey agont lt h eǵonti gʷemjō to come III variant Pronoun Verb present I gʷemjō lt PIE gʷm yoh You gʷemjes lt gʷm yesiHe she it gʷemjet lt gʷm yetiWe gʷemjomos gʷm yomosYou all gʷemjete lt gʷm yeteThey gʷemjont lt gʷm yonti esom to be athematic Pronoun Verb present I ezom lt PIE h esmiYou es lt h esiHe she it est lt h estiWe e somos lt h smosYou all e stes lt h steThey sent lt h sentiPerfective formations According to Rix if a verb stem is present in both the Latino Faliscan and Osco Umbrian Sabellian branches the present stem is identical in 90 of cases but the perfect in only 50 of cases This is likely because the original PIE aorist merged with the perfective aspect after the Proto Italic period Thus the discrepancy in the similarities of present versus perfect stems in the two groupings of the Italic clade is likely attributed to different preservations in each group The new common perfect stem in Latino Faliscan derives mostly from the PIE perfective while the perfect stem in Osco Umbrian derives mostly from the PIE aorist In the Proto Italic period the root aorist of PIE was no longer productive However other PIE perfect and aorist stems continued to be productive such as the reduplicated perfect and lengthened vowel perfect stems as well as the sigmatic aorist stem found in Latin dicō dixi Sometimes multiple perfective forms for each stem are attested For example De Vaan gives the forms fek fak for the aorist stem of fakiō and the reduplicated perfect form lt FHEFHAKED gt is also attested on the Praeneste fibula in Old Latin In addition there were some new innovations within the perfective aspect with the v perfect in Latin amō amavi and the u perfect moneō monui being later innovations for example citation needed Conjugation of the aorist The aorist in Proto Italic is characterized by the PIE secondary endings connected to the aorist stem by the appropriate thematic vowel These endings are best attested in Sabellic where aorist endings generally ousted the perfect ones Latin instead generalized the perfect endings to its aorist derived perfects The following stem formations for the aorist are known The simple root aorist formed by simply attaching aorist endings to an unsuffixed root If ablaut is available for a root the root is in the e grade in the singular and zero grade in the plural The s aorist where the root in the e grade is suffixed with s to make the aorist stem Aorist conjugations in Proto Italic Person and number Endings Root aorist fek fak did made s aorist deiks said 1st Sing om fekom deiksom2nd Sing es fekes deikses3rd Sing ed feked deiksed1st Plur 2nd Plur 3rd Plur ond fakond deiksondConjugation of the perfect The other main type of perfective formation in Italic was the perfect which was derived from the Proto Indo European stative and had its own set of endings Perfect stems are created by a reduplication process where a copy syllable consisting of the first consonant of the verb root followed by e is prefixed to the root In Italic Vine believes that the root either is in the zero grade or has the same vowel as the present stem but De Vaan identified at least two perfects with o grade in the root syllable Latin and Sabellic also both attest a tendency in which if a root has a semivowel in the middle this semivowel replaces e in the copy syllable If a verb root begins in s followed by a stop consonant both consonants appear in the copy syllable and the root syllable loses the s Perfect stem formation in Italic Root Copy syllable Root syllable Perfect stem Notes deh to give de d ded Widely attested across Italic Zero grade root dh resolves as non syllabic when preceding a vowel perh to bring forth pe par pepar Reduplication with e in the copy syllable Vine claims that the a in the root syllable is taken from the present stem parj but this is unnecessary as zero grade prh would yield par anyhow pewǵ to prick pu pug pupug Semivowel instead of e in the copy syllable dʰeyǵʰ to form 8i 8iɣ 8i8iɣ telh to bear te tol tetol Reduplication with e in the copy syllable but oddly o grade in the root syllable deḱ to take in de dok dedok Another perfect with o grade in the root syllable Corresponding Latin didici has the copy syllable vowel replaced by i by analogy with present discō I learn The perfect endings in Italic which only survive in the Latino Faliscan languages are derived from the original PIE stative endings but with an extra i added after most of them An additional suffix is of difficult to trace origin was added in the evolution of Latin to the 2nd person endings Perfect conjugations in Proto Italic Perfect Endings Latin endings1st Sing ai i2nd Sing tai isti3rd Sing ei it1st Plur imus2nd Plur e istis3rd Plur eri ereExtended by mystery suffix is Appears in Plautus remodelled with t from the present endings Replaced by short vowel it derived from the aorist endings otherwise Ending reshaped after the present active endings Extended by ond from the aorist endings to form the usual ending erunt Post Italic developmentsFurther changes occurred during the evolution of individual Italic languages This section gives an overview of the most notable changes For complete lists see History of Latin and other articles relating to the individual languages x debuccalises to h ɣ similarly becomes ɦ between vowels but remains elsewhere This change possibly took place within the Proto Italic period The result whether h or ɦ was written h in all Italic languages Initial xl xr are reflected in Latin at least as gl gr 8 e r d e r gt f e r b e r in all but Venetic Compare Venetic louder obos to Latin liber Faliscan loifir ta Oscan luvfreis b d gt Latin b d In Osco Umbrian the result is f probably voiced for both In Faliscan b remains a fricative ɣʷ gt gʷ in Latin which then develops as below gt f in Osco Umbrian dw gt b in classical Latin although still retained in the archaic see Duenos inscription kʷ gʷ gt p b in Osco Umbrian They are retained in Latino Faliscan and Venetic In Latin gʷ gt v w except after n z gt r in Classical Latin and Umbrian but not in Old Latin or Oscan Final a fem sg nom neut pl nom acc gt oː in Osco Umbrian but becomes short a in Latin Final ns acc pl of various noun classes nts masc nom sg of participles and nt neut nom acc sg of participles developed in complex ways PItal Pre O U Oscan Umbrian Pre Latin Latin ns ns ss f ns s nts nts ns nt nts ns Latin vowel reduction during the Old Latin period This merged many of the unstressed short vowels most dramatically all short vowels merged usually to i in open medial syllables Furthermore all diphthongs became pure vowels except for ai and au and occasionally oi in initial syllables See alsoItalo CelticReferences Immigrants from the North CUP Archive via Google Books Bossong 2017 p 859 Baumer Christoph December 11 2012 The History of Central Asia The Age of the Steppe Warriors I B Tauris ISBN 978 1 78076 060 5 via Google Books Blench Roger Spriggs Matthew September 2 2003 Archaeology and Language I Theoretical and Methodological Orientations Routledge ISBN 978 1 134 82877 7 via Google Books Silvestri 1998 p 326 Sihler 1995 p 228 Silvestri 1998 p 325 De Vaan 2008 p 8 Sihler 1995 pp 205 206 Bakkum 2009 pp 58 61 Silvestri 1998 p 332 De Vaan 2008 p 6 Meiser Gerhard 2018 The phonology of Italic In Brian Joseph Matthias Fritz Jared Klein eds Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo European Linguistics De Gruyter p 747 Weiss Michael L 2009 Outline of the historical and comparative grammar of Latin Ann Arbor Beech Stave Press p 109 ISBN 978 0 9747927 5 0 M de Vaan Etymological Dictionary of Latin 2008 Brill p 9 B Vine 2006 On Thurneysen Havet s Law in Latin and Italic Historische Sprachforschung 119 211 249 Sihler 1995 pp 256 265 De Vaan 2008 p 29 De Vaan 2008 p 314 Sihler 1995 p 259 Sihler 1995 p 387 Weiss 2012 p 165 Sihler 1995 pp 266 272 Sihler 1995 p 268 Sihler 1995 pp 283 286 De Vaan 2008 p 409 410 De Vaan 2008 p 134 135 Sihler 1995 pp 315 319 De Vaan 2008 p 372 De Vaan 2008 p 365 Sihler 1995 pp 316 317 Sihler 1995 pp 319 327 De Vaan 2008 p 482 De Vaan 2008 p 136 137 Sihler 1995 p 323 Sihler 1995 p 324 Sihler 1995 pp 325 326 De Vaan 2008 p 187 De Vaan 2008 p 507 508 De Vaan 2008 p 284 310 323 324 426 De Vaan 2008 p 179 De Vaan 2008 p 387 De Vaan 2008 p 651 652 De Vaan 2008 p 185 186 De Vaan 2008 p 661 De Vaan 2008 p 599 Rix 2002 Piwowarczyk Dariusz 2011 Formations of the perfect in the Sabellic languages with the Italic and Indo European background Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 128 128 Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego 103 126 doi 10 2478 v10148 011 0017 1 ISSN 1897 1059 Retrieved 20 June 2024 Vine 2017 p 789 De Vaan 2008 pp 445 446 De Vaan 2008 p 172 Vine 2017 pp 792 793 Sihler 1995 p 266 Sihler 1995 p 230 Footnotes Written o in the Latin alphabet but u in the native Oscan alphabet and u or sometimes a in the native Umbrian alphabet See Sihler 1995 266 Bibliography Bakkum Gabriel C L M 2009 The Latin Dialect of the Ager Faliscus 150 Years of Scholarship Part I Amsterdam University of Amsterdam ISBN 978 90 5629 562 2 Bossong Georg 2017 The Evolution of Italic In Klein Jared Joseph Brian Fritz Matthias eds Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo European Linguistics Vol 2 Walter de Gruyter ISBN 978 3 11 054243 1 Pocetti Paolo 2017 The Phonology of Italic In Klein Jared Joseph Brian Fritz Matthias eds Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo European Linguistics Vol 2 Walter de Gruyter ISBN 978 3 11 054243 1 Vine Brent 2017 The Morphology of Italic In Klein Jared Joseph Brian Fritz Matthias eds Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo European Linguistics Vol 2 Walter de Gruyter doi 10 1515 9783110523874 003 ISBN 978 3 11 054243 1 De Vaan Michiel 2008 Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages Brill ISBN 978 90 04 16797 1 Sihler Andrew L 1995 New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 508345 8 Silvestri Domenico 1998 The Italic Languages in Ramat Anna Giacalone Ramat Paolo eds The Indo European languages Taylor amp Francis Group pp 322 344 Rix Helmut 2002 Towards a reconstruction of Proto Italic PDF Program in Indo European Studies UCLA Archived from the original PDF on 13 November 2017 Retrieved 24 June 2017 Wallace Rex 2017 Italic In Mate Kapovic ed The Indo European Languages 2nd ed London New York Routledge pp 317 351 ISBN 978 1 315 67855 9 Weiss Michael 2012 Italo Celtica Linguistic and Cultural Points of Contact between Italic and Celtic In Stephanie W Jamison H Craig Melchert Brent Vine eds Proceedings of the 23rd Annual UCLA Indo European Conference Bremen Hempen pp 151 173 Further readingHeidermanns Frank 2002 Nominal Composition In Sabellic And Proto Italic Transactions of the Philological Society 100 2 185 202 doi 10 1111 1467 968X 00096 ISSN 0079 1636