Proto-Indo-Iranian language
Proto-Indo-Iranian, also called Proto-Indo-Iranic or Proto-Aryan, 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 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 and Old Avestan.
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
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. The phonetic nature of this contrast is not clear, and hence they are usually referred to as the primary or first series and the second or secondary series.The following table shows the most common reflexes of the two series :
| PII | Proto-Indo-Aryan | Sanskrit | Proto-Iranian | Avestan | Old Persian | Nuristani |
| *ć | *ś | ś | *ts | s | θ | ċ |
| *ȷ́ | *ź | j | *dz | z | d | j̈ |
| *ȷ́ʰ | *źh | h | *dz | z | d | j̈ |
| *č | *c | c | *č | č | č | č |
| *ǰ | *j | j | *ǰ | ǰ | ǰ | ǰ |
| *ǰʰ | *žh | h | *ǰ | ǰ | ǰ | ǰ |
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.Accent
Like Proto-Indo-European and Vedic Sanskrit, 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. 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.
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
| ḱm̥tóm | *ćatám | śatám | satəm | centum | hund | id | |
| ǵónu | *ȷ́ā́nu | jā́nu | zānu | Katë dialect|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.
| 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.
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
| déḱm̥ | *dáćm̥ | *dáća | dáśa | dasā | Kt. duċ | decem | ten | id |
| gʷm̥tós | *gm̥tás | *gatás | gatá | gata | Kt. gëvë́ | ventus | come | 'come, gone' |
| n̥bʰrós | *n̥bʰrás | *abʰrás | abhrá | aβra | imber | 'rain, cloud' |
- Bartholomae's law: an aspirate immediately followed by a voiceless consonant becomes voiced stop + voiced aspirate. In addition, dʰ + t > dᶻdʰ.
| 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 | 'to milk' |
- The Ruki rule: *s is retracted to *š when immediately following a liquid, a high vowel, a PIE velar or the syllabic laryngeal *H̥. Its allophone *z likewise becomes *ž.
| 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.
| 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.
| 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. through an intermediate *kʲ *gʲ *gʲʰ.
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
| -kʷe | *-kʲa | *-ča | -ca | -ča | -que | 'and' | ||
| gʷih₃wós | *gʲiHwás | *ǰiHwás | jīvás | juuō | Kt. ǰiv- 'to be alive' | vīvus | quick | 'alive, living' |
| gʷʰénti | *gʲʰánti | *ǰʰánti | hánti | jaiṇti | Kt. SE ǰaň- | -fendit | 'slays' |
- Brugmann's law: *o or *ó in an open syllable lengthens to *ā.
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | Glossary |
| deh₃tórm̥ | *daHtā́rm̥ | *daHtā́ram | dātā́ram | dātārəm | datōrem | 'giver' |
- 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.
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | English | Glossary |
| dédeh₃ti | *dádaHti | dádāti | dadāiti | Kt. pře- | dat | 'to give' | |
| h₃dónts | *Hdánts | dant | dantan | Kt. dut | dēns | tooth | 'tooth' |
| bʰréh₂tēr | *bʰráHtā | bhrā́tr̥ | brātar | Kt. břo | frāter | brother | 'brother' |
| wṓkʷs | *wā́kš | vā́k | vāxš | vōx | 'voice' |
- In certain positions, laryngeals were vocalized to *i. This preceded the second palatalization.
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Latin | Glossary |
| ph₂tréy | *pitráy | pitré | piθrē | patrī | 'father' |
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Nuristani | Glossary |
| -medʰh₂ | *-madʰHi | -mahi | -maidī/-maiδi |
- 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.
| 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:
| 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.Morphology and basic vocabulary
Proto-Indo-Iranian has preserved much of the morphology of Proto-Indo-European : thematic and athematic inflection in both nouns and verbs, all three numbers, 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.| Pronoun | PIE | PII |
| I | *éǵ > *eǵHóm | *aȷ́Hám > *aȷ́ʰám |
| You | *túh₂ | *túH |
| He | *ey- | *ayám |
| She | *séh₂ | *sáH |
| It | *tód | *tád |
| We | *wéy > *weyóm | *wayám |
| You | *yū́ | *yúH |
| They | *tóy | *táy |
| They | *téh₂es | *tā́s |
| They | *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.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 | *bʰérete | *bʰáratʰa |
| They | *bʰéronti | *bʰáranti |
| Pronoun | PIE | PII |
| I | *h₁ésmi | *Hásmi |
| You | *h₁ési | *Hási |
| He, she, it | *h₁ésti | *Hásti |
| We | *h₁smós | *Hsmás |
| You | *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.The following examples lack the dual number.
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 | Feminine | Neuter |
| 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 > *amŕ̥tayaH | *n̥mr̥téy/óy > *amŕ̥tay |
| Instr. | *n̥mr̥tóh₁ > *amŕ̥tā | *n̥mr̥téh₂h₁ > *amŕ̥tayaH | *n̥mr̥tóh₁ > *amŕ̥tā́ |
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nom. | PIE *n̥mr̥tóes > PII *amŕ̥ā | PIE *n̥mr̥téh₂es > PII *amŕ̥ā́s | PIE *n̥mr̥téh₂ > PII *amŕ̥áH |
| Gen. | *n̥mr̥tóHom > *amŕānam | *n̥mr̥téh₂oHom > *amŕ̥áHnām | *n̥mr̥tóHom > *amŕ̥ā́nam |
| Dat. | *n̥mr̥tómos > *amŕ̥aybʰyas | *n̥mr̥téh₂mos > *amŕ̥áHbʰyas | *n̥mr̥tómos > *amŕ̥áybʰyas |
| Acc. | *n̥mr̥tóms > *amŕ̥āns | *n̥mr̥téh₂m̥s > *amŕ̥ā́s | *n̥mr̥téh₂ > *amŕ̥áH |
| Voc. | *n̥mr̥tóes > *amŕ̥ā | *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 |