Proto-Indo-Iranian language
Reconstructed proto-language
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Proto-Indo-Iranian, also called Proto-Indo-Iranic or Proto-Aryan,[1] is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium BC, and are often connected with the Sintashta culture of the Eurasian Steppe and the early Andronovo archaeological horizon.
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | |
|---|---|
| Proto-Indo-Iranic (PIIr) | |
| Reconstruction of | Indo-Iranian languages |
| Region | Eurasian Steppe |
| Era | Late 3rd m. BCE |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
Proto-Indo-Iranian was a satem language, likely removed less than a millennium from its ancestor, the late Proto-Indo-European language, and in turn removed less than a millennium from its descendants: Vedic Sanskrit (of the Rigveda)[2] and Old Avestan (of the Gathas).
It is the ancestor of Indo-Aryan languages, the Iranian languages, and the Nuristani languages, predominantly spoken in the Southern Asian subregion of Eurasia.
Descriptive phonology
| Type | Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Laryngeal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dental/alveolar | post-alveolar | first | second | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | *p | *t | *ć | *č | *k | ||
| aspirated | *pʰ | *tʰ | *kʰ | |||||
| voiced | *b | *d | *ȷ́ | *ǰ | *g | |||
| voiced aspirated | *bʰ | *dʰ | *ȷ́ʰ | *ǰʰ | *gʰ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | *s | *š | *H | ||||
| voiced | (*z) | *ž | ||||||
| aspirated | *žʰ | |||||||
| Nasal | *m | *n | ||||||
| Liquid | (*l) | *r *r̥ | ||||||
| Semivowel | *y | *w | ||||||
In addition to the vowels, *H, and *r̥ could function as the syllabic core. In many reconstructions, instances of *iH and *uH occur instead of *ī and *ū.
Two palatal series
Proto-Indo-Iranian is hypothesized to have contained two series of stops or affricates in the palatal to postalveolar region.[3] The phonetic nature of this contrast is not clear, and hence they are usually referred to as the primary or first series (*ć *ȷ́ *ȷ́ʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European palatovelar *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ) and the second or secondary series (*č *ǰ *ǰʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European plain and labialized velars, *k, *g, *gʰ and *kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ, in palatalizing contexts). The following table shows the most common reflexes of the two series (Proto-Iranian is the hypothetical ancestor to the Iranian languages, including Avestan and Old Persian):[4][5]
| PII | Proto-Indo-Aryan | Sanskrit | Proto-Iranian | Avestan | Old Persian | Nuristani[6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ć | *ś | ś ([ɕ]/[ç]) | *ts | s | θ | ċ ([t͡s]) |
| *ȷ́ | *ź | j ([d͡ʑ]/[ɟ]) | *dz | z | d | j̈ ([d͡z]) (> z) |
| *ȷ́ʰ | *źh | h ([ɦ]) | ||||
| *č | *c | c ([t͡ɕ]/[c]]) | *č | č | č | č |
| *ǰ | *j | j ([d͡ʑ]/[ɟ]) | *ǰ | ǰ | ǰ | ǰ |
| *ǰʰ | *žh | h ([ɦ]) |
Laryngeal
Proto-Indo-European is usually hypothesized to have had three to four laryngeal consonants, each of which could occur in either syllabic or non-syllabic positions. In Proto-Indo-Iranian, the laryngeals merged as one phoneme /*H/. Beekes suggests that some instances of this /*H/ survived into Rigvedic Sanskrit and Avestan as unwritten glottal stops as evidenced by metrics.[7]
Accent
Like Proto-Indo-European and Vedic Sanskrit (and also Avestan, though it was not written down[8]), Proto-Indo-Iranian had a pitch accent system similar to present-day Japanese, conventionally indicated by an acute accent over the accented vowel.
Historical phonology
The most distinctive phonological change separating Proto-Indo-Iranian from Proto-Indo-European is the collapse of the ablauting vowels *e, *o into a single vowel, Proto-Indo-Iranian *a (but see Brugmann's law). Grassmann's law, Bartholomae's law, and the ruki sound law were also complete in Proto-Indo-Iranian.
A fuller list of some of the hypothesized sound changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Indo-Iranian follows:
- The Satem shift, consisting of two sets of related changes. The PIE palatals *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ are fronted or affricated, eventually resulting in PII *ć, *ȷ́, *ȷ́ʰ, while the PIE labiovelars *kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ merge with the velars *k *g *gʰ.[9]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ḱm̥tóm | *ćatám | śatám | satəm | centum | hund(red) | id | |
| *ǵónu | *ȷ́ā́nu | jā́nu | zānu | Kt. SE j̈õ | genū | knee | id |
| *ǵʰimós | *ȷ́ʰimás | himá | ziiā̊ | Kt. SE j̈im | hiems | 'winter' / 'snow' | |
| *kʷós | *kás | kás | ka | quis | who | id | |
| *gʷṓws | *gā́wš | gaus | gao | Kt. go | bōs | cow | id |
| *gʷʰormós | *gʰarmás | gharmás | garəma | formus | warm | 'warmth, heat' |
- The PIE liquids *l *r *l̥ *r̥ merge as *r *r̥.[10]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ḱléwos | *ćráwas | śrávas | srauua | clueō | 'fame, honour, word' | ||
| *wĺ̥kʷos | *wŕ̥kas | vŕ̥kas | vəhrka | lupus | wolf | id | |
| *gʷʰormós | *gʰarmás | gharmás | garəma | formus | warm | 'warmth, heat' |
- The PIE syllabic nasals *m̥ *n̥ merge with *a.[10]
- Bartholomae's law: an aspirate immediately followed by a voiceless consonant becomes voiced stop + voiced aspirate. In addition, dʰ + t > dᶻdʰ.[11]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ubʰtós | *ubdʰás | sámubdha | ubdaēna | web, weave | 'woven' / 'made of woven material' | |
| *wr̥dʰtós | *wr̥dᶻdʰás | vr̥ddʰá | vərəzda | 'grown, mature' | ||
| *dʰéwgʰti | *dáwgdʰi | dógdhi | *daogdi | Pr. lüšt 'daughter' | daugh(·ter) | 'to milk' |
| *wóbʰsos | *wábžʰas | vaβžaka | Kt. ušpi | wasp | id |
- The Ruki rule: *s is retracted to *š when immediately following a liquid (*r *r̥ *l *l̥), a high vowel (*i *u), a PIE velar (*ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ *k *g *gʰ *kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ) or the syllabic laryngeal *H̥.[12] Its allophone *z likewise becomes *ž.[10]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *wisós | *wišás | víṣas | viša | Katë viš | vīrus | 'poison, venom' | |
| *ḱeHs- | *ćH̥šam | aśiṣam | sīšā | 'teach!' | |||
| *ǵéwseti | *ȷ́áwšati | jóṣati | zaošō | gustus | 'to like, taste' | ||
| *kʷsép- | *kšáp- | kṣáp- | xšap- | 'darkness' | |||
| *plúsis | *plúšiš | plúṣi | *fruši | pūlex | 'flea, noxious insect' | ||
| *nisdós | *niždás | nīḷá/nīḍá | *nižda | nīdus | nest | 'nest' |
- Before a dental occlusive, *ć becomes *š and *ȷ́ becomes *ž. *ȷ́ʰ also becomes *ž, with aspiration of the occlusive.[13]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *h₁oḱtṓ | *Haćtā́ | *Haštā́ | aṣṭá | ašta | octō | eight | 'eight' | |
| *dr̥ḱtós | *dr̥ćtás | *dr̥štás | dr̥ṣṭá | dərəšta | 'seen, visible, apparent' | |||
| *mr̥ǵt- | *mr̥ȷ́d- | *mr̥žd- | mr̥ḷ-/mr̥ḍ- | mərəžd- | 'to forgive, pardon' | |||
| *uǵʰtós | *uȷ́dʰás | *uždʰás | ūḍhá | *užda | Kt. SE ṓzë 'came' | vector | weight | 'carried' |
- The sequence *ćš was simplified to *šš.[14]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *h₂éḱs- | *Háćšas | *Háššas | ákṣa | aša | axis | axle | 'axle, shoulder' |
- The "second palatalization" or "law of palatals": *k *g *gʰ develop palatal allophones *č *ǰ *ǰʰ before the front vowels *i, *e.[11] through an intermediate *kʲ *gʲ *gʲʰ.
- Brugmann's law: *o or *ó in an open syllable lengthens to *ā.[15]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *deh₃tórm̥ | *daHtā́rm̥ | *daHtā́ram | dātā́ram | dātārəm | datōrem | 'giver' (accusative singular) |
- The vowels *e *o merge with *a. Similarly, *ē, *ō merge with *ā. This has the effect of giving full phonemic status to the second palatal series *č *ǰ *ǰʰ.
- In certain positions, laryngeals were vocalized to *i. This preceded the second palatalization.[16][17]
- Following a consonant, and preceding a consonant cluster
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ph₂tréy | *pitráy | pitré | piθrē | patrī | 'father' (dative singular) |
- Following a consonant and word-final
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *-medʰh₂ | *-madʰHi | -mahi | -maidī/-maiδi | (1st person plural middle ending) |
- The laryngeal *h₂ (and possibly *h₁) aspirates the previous stop consonant and satem palatals. Notably this creates new voiceless aspirated stops. The laryngeal also disappears if it's followed by a vowel.
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *gʰegʰróbh₂e | *ǰagrábʰa | jagrabha | jāgərəbuš | 'grabbed' | |||
| *m̥ddh₁éh₂ | *adᶻdʰáH | addhā́ | azdā | 'known' | |||
| *méǵh₂os | *máȷ́ʰas | máhas | mazah | 'greatness' | |||
| *dʰugh₂tḗr | *dʰúgʰHtā | duγδar | daughter | id | |||
| *(s)pHóy(m)nos | *pʰáy(m)nas | phéna | 'foam' | ||||
| *pl̥th₂ús | *pr̥tʰúš | pṛthú | pərəθu | flat | 'broad' | ||
| *kh₂idéti | *kʰidáti | khidáti | caedō | 'to cut' |
- The Indo-European laryngeals all merged into one phoneme *H, which may have been a glottal stop. This was probably contemporary with the merging of *e and *o with *a.[citation needed]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ph₂tḗr | *pHtā́ | pitā́ | ptā | pater | father | id |
- According to Lubotsky's Law, *H disappeared when followed by a voiced nonaspirated stop and another consonant:[18]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *bʰéh₂geti | *bʰáǰati | bhájati | bažat̰ | 'to divide, distribute' |
Subsequent sound changes
Among the sound changes from Proto-Indo-Iranian to Indo-Aryan is the loss of the voiced sibilants *z, *ẓ, *ź; among those to Proto-Iranian is the de-aspiration of the PIE voiced aspirates.
| PII | → Vedic Sanskrit | Special developments | → Proto-Iranian | Special developments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *p | p | *p | *f (before consonant) | |
| *pʰ | ph | *f | *p (after consonant) | |
| *b | b | *b | ||
| *bʰ | bh | *b | ||
| *t | t | ṭ (after *š, *ž, or *žʰ); kṣ (PII tć → kṣ) |
*t | *θ (before consonant) |
| *tʰ | th | ṭh (after *š or *ž) | *θ | *t (after consonant) |
| *d | d | ḍ (after *š, *ž, or *žʰ) | *d | |
| *dʰ | dh | ḍh (after *š or *ž) | *d | |
| *k | k | *k | *x (before consonant) | |
| *kʰ | kh | *x | *k (after consonant) | |
| *g | g | *g | ||
| *gʰ | gh | kṣ (PII gʰžʰ → kṣ) | *g | |
| *ć | ś | ch (PII *sć/šć → ch); cch (PII *VsćV/VšćV → VcchV); |
*c | ∅ (before *š) |
| *ȷ́ | j | jj (PII *zȷ́/žȷ́ → jj) | *j | ∅ (before *š) |
| *ȷ́ʰ | h | jj (PII *zȷ́ʰ/žȷ́ʰ → jj); kṣ (PII ȷ́ʰžʰ → kṣ) |
*j | ∅ (before *š) |
| *č | c | ch (PII *sč/šč → ch); cch (PII *VsčV/VščV → VcchV) |
*č | |
| *ǰ | j | jj (PII *zǰ/žǰ → jj) | *ǰ | |
| *ǰʰ | h | jj (PII *zǰʰ/žǰʰ → jj) | *ǰ | |
| *s | s | ḥ (before a pause) | *h | *s (before nasals and plosives, or after plosives and *n) |
| *š | ṣ | ḥ (before a pause) | *š | |
| *ž | ∅ (lengthening previous vowel) | *ž | ∅ (after a palatal obstruant) | |
| *žʰ | ∅ (lengthening previous vowel) | *ž | ∅ (after a palatal obstruant) | |
| *y | y | *y | ||
| *w | v | u (after a vowel) | *w | |
| *m | m | *m | ||
| *n | n | ṇ (after a retroflex consonant or *r within the same word with no palatal or dental consonant in between) | *n | |
| *r | r | ḥ (before a pause) | *r | |
| *r̥ | ṛ | īr (before *H); ūr (before *H in the neighborhood of labials) |
*r̥ | |
| *i | i | *i | ||
| *a | a | *a | ||
| *ā | ā | *ā | ||
| *u | u | *u | ||
| *H | ∅ (lengthening previous vowel) | i (in between consonants) | *H |
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Iranian (Av, OP) | Vedic Sanskrit |
|---|---|---|
| *Háćwas "horse" | Av aspa, OP asa | áśva |
| *bʰaHgás "portion, share" | Av bāga | bhāgá |
| *bʰráHtā "brother" | Av, OP brātar | bhrā́tr̥ |
| *bʰúHmiš "earth, land" | OP būmiš | bhū́mi- |
| *mártyas "mortal, man" | Av maṣ̌iia, OP martiya | mártya |
| *mā́Has "moon" | Av mā̊, OP māha | mā́s |
| *wásr̥ "spring" | Av vaŋhar | vásara "morning" |
| *Hr̥tás "truth" | Av aṣ̌a, OP arta | r̥tá |
| *dʰráwgʰas "lie" | Av draoγa, OP drauga | drógha "using malicious words" |
| *sáwmas "pressed (juice)" | Av haoma | sóma- |
Morphology and basic vocabulary
Proto-Indo-Iranian has preserved much of the morphology of Proto-Indo-European (PIE): thematic and athematic inflection in both nouns and verbs, all three numbers (singular, dual and plural), all the tense, mood and voice categories in the verb, and the cases in the noun.
Personal pronouns (nominative case)
Pronouns, nouns and adjectives are inflected into the eight cases of PIE: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, ablative, locative and instrumental (with also a comitative/sociative meaning).
| Pronoun | PIE | PII |
|---|---|---|
| I | *éǵ > *eǵHóm | *aȷ́Hám > *aȷ́ʰám |
| You | *túh₂ | *túH |
| He | *ey- (*eyóm?)
*só |
*ayám
*sá |
| She | *séh₂ | *sáH |
| It | *tód | *tád |
| We | *wéy > *weyóm | *wayám |
| You (all) | *yū́ | *yúH |
| They (m.) | *tóy | *táy |
| They (f.) | *téh₂es | *tā́s (or *táHas?) |
| They (n.) | *téh₂ | *táH |
Three examples of verbs
In verbs, the chief innovation is the creation of a passive conjugation with the suffix *-yá, with middle inflection.[19]
The following examples lack the dual plural and are conjugated in the present tense.
| Pronoun | PIE | PII |
|---|---|---|
| I | *bʰéroh₂ > *bʰéroh₂mi | *bʰáraHmi |
| You | *bʰéresi | *bʰárasi |
| He, she, it | *bʰéreti | *bʰárati |
| We | *bʰéromos > *bʰéroh₂mos? | *bʰáraHmas |
| You (all) | *bʰérete | *bʰáratʰa |
| They | *bʰéronti | *bʰáranti |
| Pronoun | PIE | PII |
|---|---|---|
| I | (*ǵʰéwyemi >) *ǵʰwéyoh₂mi? | *ȷ́ʰwáyaHmi |
| You | *ǵʰwéyesi | *ȷ́ʰwayasi |
| He, she, it | *ǵʰwéyeti | *ȷ́ʰwáyati |
| We | *ǵʰwéyomos > *ǵʰwéyoh₂mos? | *ȷ́ʰwáyaHmas |
| You (all) | *ǵʰwéyete | *ȷ́ʰwayatʰa |
| They | *ǵʰwéyonti | *ȷ́ʰwáyanti |
| Pronoun | PIE | PII |
|---|---|---|
| I | *h₁ésmi | *Hásmi |
| You | *h₁ési | *Hási |
| He, she, it | *h₁ésti | *Hásti |
| We | *h₁smós | *Hsmás |
| You (all) | *h₁sté | *Hstʰá |
| They | *h₁sénti | *Hsánti |
Examples of noun declension
Despite Proto-Indo-Iranian preserving much of the original morphology of Proto-Indo-European, an important innovation in the noun is the creation of a genitive plural ending *-nām used with vowel stems.[19]
The following examples lack the dual number.
Masculine noun
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | PIE *wĺ̥kʷos > PII *wŕ̥kas | PIE *wĺ̥kʷoes > PII *wŕ̥kā(s) |
| Gen. | *wĺ̥kʷosyo > *wŕ̥kasya | *wĺ̥kʷoHom > *wŕ̥kāna(H)m |
| Dat. | *wĺ̥kʷoey > *wŕ̥kāy | *wĺ̥kʷomos > *wŕ̥kaybʰyas |
| Acc. | *wĺ̥kʷom > *wŕ̥kam | *wĺ̥kʷoms > *wŕ̥kāns |
| Voc. | *wĺ̥kʷe > *wŕ̥ka | *wĺ̥kʷoes > *wŕ̥kā(s) |
| Abl. | *wĺ̥kʷead > *wŕ̥kāt | *wĺ̥kʷomos > *wŕ̥kaybʰyas |
| Loc. | *wĺ̥kʷey/oy > *wŕ̥kay | *wĺ̥kʷoysu > *wŕ̥kayšu |
| Instr. | *wĺ̥kʷoh₁ > *wŕ̥kā | *wĺ̥kʷōys > *wŕ̥kāyš |
Feminine noun
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | PIE *woḱéh₂ > PII *waćáH | PIE *woḱéh₂es > PII *waćā́s |
| Gen. | *woḱéh₂s > *waćáyaHs | *woḱéh₂oHom > *waćáHnām |
| Dat. | *woḱéh₂ey > *waćáyaHy | *woḱéh₂mos > *waćáHbʰyas |
| Acc. | *woḱā́m > *waćā́m | *woḱéh₂m̥s > *waćā́s |
| Voc. | *woḱéh₂ > *waćay | *woḱéh₂es > *waćā́s |
| Abl. | *woḱéh₂s > *waćáyaHs | *woḱéh₂mos > *waćáHbʰyas |
| Loc. | *woḱéh₂(i) > *waćáyaH(m) | *woḱéh₂su > *waćáHsu |
| Instr. | *woḱéh₂h₁ > *waćáyaH́ | *woḱéh₂mis > *waćáHbʰiš |
Neuter noun
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | PIE *yugóm > PII *yugám | PIE *yugéh₂ > PII *yugáH |
| Gen. | *yugósyo > *yugásya | *yugóHom > *yugā́na(H)m |
| Dat. | *yugóey > *yugā́y | *yugómos > *yugáybʰyas |
| Acc. | *yugóm > *yugám | *yugéh₂ > *yugáH |
| Voc. | *yugóm > *yugám | *yugéh₂ > *yugáH |
| Abl. | *yugéad > *yugā́t | *yugómos > *yugáybʰyas |
| Loc. | *yugéy/óy > *yugáy | *yugóysu > *yugáyšu |
| Instr. | *yugóh₁ > *yugā́ | *yugṓys > *yugā́yš |
An example of adjectival declension
The morphology in adjectival declension is identical to the one in noun declension. The following example lacks the dual number.
| Case | Masculine
(singular) |
Feminine
(singular) |
Neuter
(singular) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | PIE *n̥mr̥tós > PII *amŕ̥tas | PIE *n̥mr̥téh₂ > PII *amŕ̥taH | PIE *n̥mr̥tóm > PII *amŕ̥tam |
| Gen. | *n̥mr̥tósyo > *amŕ̥tasya | *n̥mr̥téh₂s > *amŕ̥tayaHs | *n̥mr̥tósyo > *amŕ̥tasya |
| Dat. | *n̥mr̥tóey > *amŕ̥tāy | *n̥mr̥téh₂ey > *amŕ̥tayaHi | *n̥mr̥tóey > *amŕ̥tā́y |
| Acc. | *n̥mr̥tóm > *amŕ̥tam | *n̥mr̥tā́m > *amŕ̥tā́m | *n̥mr̥tóm > *amŕ̥tam |
| Voc. | *n̥mr̥té > *amŕ̥ta | *n̥mr̥téh₂ > *amŕ̥tay | *n̥mr̥tóm > *amŕ̥tam |
| Abl. | *n̥mr̥téad > *amŕ̥tāt | *n̥mr̥téh₂s > *amŕ̥tayaHs | *n̥mr̥téad > *amŕ̥tā́t |
| Loc. | *n̥mr̥téy/óy > *amŕ̥tay | *n̥mr̥téh₂(i) > *amŕ̥tayaH(m) | *n̥mr̥téy/óy > *amŕ̥tay |
| Instr. | *n̥mr̥tóh₁ > *amŕ̥tā | *n̥mr̥téh₂h₁ > *amŕ̥tayaH | *n̥mr̥tóh₁ > *amŕ̥tā́ |
| Case | Masculine
(plural) |
Feminine
(plural) |
Neuter
(plural) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | PIE *n̥mr̥tóes > PII *amŕ̥ā(s) | PIE *n̥mr̥téh₂es > PII *amŕ̥ā́s | PIE *n̥mr̥téh₂ > PII *amŕ̥áH |
| Gen. | *n̥mr̥tóHom > *amŕāna(H)m | *n̥mr̥téh₂oHom > *amŕ̥áHnām | *n̥mr̥tóHom > *amŕ̥ā́na(H)m |
| Dat. | *n̥mr̥tómos > *amŕ̥aybʰyas | *n̥mr̥téh₂mos > *amŕ̥áHbʰyas | *n̥mr̥tómos > *amŕ̥áybʰyas |
| Acc. | *n̥mr̥tóms > *amŕ̥āns | *n̥mr̥téh₂m̥s > *amŕ̥ā́s | *n̥mr̥téh₂ > *amŕ̥áH |
| Voc. | *n̥mr̥tóes > *amŕ̥ā(s) | *n̥mr̥téh₂es > *amŕ̥ā́s | *n̥mr̥téh₂ > *amŕ̥áH |
| Abl. | *n̥mr̥tómos > *amŕ̥aybʰyas | *n̥mr̥téh₂mos > *amŕ̥áHbʰyas | *n̥mr̥tómos > *amŕ̥áybʰyas |
| Loc. | *n̥mr̥tóysu > *amŕ̥ayšu | *n̥mr̥téh₂su > *amŕ̥áHsu | *n̥mr̥tóysu > *amŕ̥áyšu |
| Instr. | *n̥mr̥tṓys > *amŕ̥āyš | *n̥mr̥téh₂mis > *amŕ̥áHbʰiš | *n̥mr̥tṓys > *amŕ̥ā́yš |
Numerals
| Numeral | PIE | PII |
|---|---|---|
| One (1) | *h₁óynos > *h₁óykos | *Háykas |
| Two (2) | *dwóh₁ | *dwáH |
| Three (3) | *tréyes | *tráyas |
| Four (4) | *kʷetwóres | *čatwā́ras |
| Five (5) | *pénkʷe | *pánča |
| Six (6) | *swéḱs | *šwáćš |
| Seven (7) | *septḿ̥ | *saptá |
| Eight (8) | *oḱtṓw | *Haštā́ |
| Nine (9) | *h₁néwn̥ | *Hnáwa |
| Ten (10) | *déḱm̥ | *dáća |