Proto-Italic | |
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Reconstruction of | Italic languages |
Region | Italian Peninsula |
Era | ca. 1000 BC |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
Lower-order reconstructions |
Part of a series on |
Indo-European topics |
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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. [1]
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). [2]
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. [3] [4] 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. [2]
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.
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. [9] H denotes any of the three laryngeals.
The simpler Italic developments of laryngeals are shared by many other Indo-European branches:
More characteristic of Italic are the interactions of laryngeals with sonorant consonants. Here, R represents a sonorant, and C a consonant.
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 | ||||
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Proto-Italic had the following diphthongs: [11]
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.
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. [13]
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. [14]
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.
This class corresponds to the second declension of Latin. 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.
*agros [16] m. "field" | *jugom [17] n. "yoke" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative | *agros | *agrōs ( *agroi) | *jugom | *jugā |
Vocative | *agre | *agrōs ( *agroi) | ||
Accusative | *agrom | *agrons | ||
Genitive | *agrosjo *agrī | *agrom | *jugosjo *jugī | *jugom |
Dative | *agrōi | *agrois | *jugōi | *jugois |
Ablative | *agrōd | *jugōd | ||
Locative | *agroi? *agrei? | *jugoi? *jugei? |
This class corresponds to the first declension of Latin. It derives primarily from Proto-Indo-European nouns in *-eh₂-, and contained mostly feminine nouns, but maybe a few masculines.
*toutā [21] f. "people, populace" | ||
---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *toutā | *toutās |
Accusative | *toutām | *toutans |
Genitive | *toutās | *toutāzom |
Dative | *toutāi | *toutais |
Ablative | *toutād | |
Locative | *toutāi |
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.
*sniks [24] f. "snow" | *kord [25] n. "heart" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *sniks | *sniɣʷes | *kord | *kordā |
Accusative | *sniɣʷəm | *sniɣʷəns | ||
Genitive | *sniɣʷes *sniɣʷos | *sniɣʷom | *kordes *kordos | *kordom |
Dative | *sniɣʷei | *sniɣʷ(?)βos | *kordei | *kord(?)βos |
Ablative | *sniɣʷi (*sniɣʷa?) | *kordi (*korda?) | ||
Locative | *sniɣʷi | *kordi |
Nouns in this class often had a somewhat irregular nominative singular form. This created several subtypes, based on the final consonant of the stem.
Other notes:
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.
*məntis [27] f. "mind" | *mari [28] n. "sea, lake" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *məntis | *məntēs | *mari | *mariā (*-īā?) |
Accusative | *məntim | *məntins | ||
Genitive | *mənteis *məntjes | *məntjom | *mareis *marjes | *marjom |
Dative | *məntēi | *məntiβos | *marēi | *mariβos |
Ablative | *məntīd | *marīd | ||
Locative | *məntei | *marei |
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.
*portus [31] m. "harbour, port" | *kornu/ū [32] n. "horn" | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Nominative-Vocative | *portus | *portous? *portowes? | *kornu? (*-ū?) | *kornuā (*-ūā?) |
Accusative | *portum | *portuns | ||
Genitive | *portous *portwos *portwes | *portwom | *kornous *kornwos *kornwes | *kornwom |
Dative | *portowei | *portuβos | *kornowei | *kornuβos |
Ablative | *portūd | *kornūd | ||
Locative | *portowi? | *kornowi? |
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.
Declension of Personal Pronouns: [36]
Singular | 1st Person | 2nd Person | Reflexive |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *egō | *tū | — |
Accusative | *mē, *me | *tē, *te | *sē, *se |
Genitive | *moi, *mei | *toi, *tei | *soi, *swei |
Dative | *meɣei | *teβei | *seβei |
Ablative | *med | *ted | *sed |
Possessive | *meos | *towos | *sowos |
Plural | 1st Person | 2nd Person | Reflexive |
Nominative | *nōs | *wōs | — |
Accusative | *nōs | *wōs | *sē, *se |
Genitive | *nosterom? | *westerom? | *soi, *swei |
Dative | *nōβei | *wōβei | *seβei |
Ablative | *sed | ||
Possessive | *nosteros | *westeros | *sowos |
Note: For the third person pronoun, Proto-Italic *is would have been used.
Declension of Relative Pronouns: [37]
Singular | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *kʷoi | *kʷod | *kʷāi |
Accusative | |||
Genitive | *kʷojjos < *kʷosjo | ||
Dative | *kʷojjei, *kʷozmoi | ||
Ablative | *kʷōd | *kʷād | |
Locative | ? | ? | ? |
Plural | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
Nominative | *kʷoi, *kʷōs | *kʷā, *kʷai | *kʷās |
Accusative | *kʷons | *kʷāns | |
Genitive | *kʷozom | *kʷazom | |
Dative | *kʷois | ||
Ablative | |||
Locative |
Declension of Interrogative Pronouns: [37]
Singular | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *kʷis | *kʷid | |
Accusative | *kʷim | ||
Genitive | *kʷejjos | ||
Dative | *kʷejjei, *kʷezmoi | ||
Ablative | *kʷōd | *kʷād | *kʷōd |
Locative | ? | ? | ? |
Plural | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
Nominative | *kʷēs | *kʷēs | *kʷī, *kʷia |
Accusative | *kʷins | *kʷins | |
Genitive | *kʷejzom?, *kʷozom? | ||
Dative | *kʷiβos | ||
Ablative | |||
Locative |
Declension of Demonstrative Pronouns: [38]
*is "this, that"
Singular | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
---|---|---|---|
Nominative | *is | *id | *ejā |
Accusative | *im | *ejām | |
Genitive | *ejjos | ||
Dative | *ejjei, *esmoi | ||
Ablative | *ejōd | *ejād | |
Locative | ? | ? | ? |
Plural | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine |
Nominative | *ejōs, *ejoi | *ejā | *ejās |
Accusative | *ejons | *ejans | |
Genitive | *ejozom | *ejazom | |
Dative | *ejois | *ejais | |
Ablative | |||
Locative | ? | ? | ? |
Present Aspect [39]
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) [40]
Present Indicative | Active | Passive |
---|---|---|
1st. Sing. | *dōnāō | *dōnāor |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnās | *dōnāzo |
3rd. Sing. | *dōnāt | *dōnātor |
1st. Plur. | *dōnāmos | *dōnāmor |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnātes | *dōnāmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *dōnānt | *dōnāntor |
Past Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *dōnāβam | *dōnāβar |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnāβas | *dōnāβazo |
3rd. Sing. | *dōnāβad | *dōnāβator |
1st. Plur. | *dōnāβamos | *dōnāβamor |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnāβates | *dōnāβamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *dōnāβand | *dōnāβantor |
Future Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *dōnāsō | *dōnāsor |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnāses | *dōnāsezo |
3rd. Sing. | *dōnāst | *dōnāstor |
1st. Plur. | *dōnāsomos | *dōnāsomor |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnāstes | *dōnāsemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *dōnāsont | *dōnāsontor |
Present Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *dōnāōm | *dōnāōr |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnāēs | *dōnāēzo |
3rd. Sing. | *dōnāēd | *dōnāētor |
1st. Plur. | *dōnāōmos | *dōnāōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnāētes | *dōnāēmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *dōnāōnd | *dōnāōntor |
Past Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *dōnāsōm | *dōnāsōr |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnāsēs | *dōnāsēzo |
3rd. Sing. | *dōnāsēd | *dōnāsētor |
1st. Plur. | *dōnāsōmos | *dōnāsōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnāsētes | *dōnāsēmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *dōnāsōnd | *dōnāsōntor |
Optative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *dōnāojam | *dōnāojar |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnāojas | *dōnāojazo |
3rd. Sing. | *dōnāojad | *dōnāojator |
1st. Plur. | *dōnāojamos | *dōnāojamor |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnāojates | *dōnāojamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *dōnāojand | *dōnāojantor |
Present Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd. Sing. | *dōnā | *dōnāzo |
2nd. Plur. | *dōnāte | — |
Future Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd/3rd. Sing. | *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) [41]
Present Indicative | Active | Passive |
---|---|---|
1st. Sing. | *moneō | *moneor |
2nd. Sing. | *monēs | *monēzo |
3rd. Sing. | *monēt | *monētor |
1st. Plur. | *monēmos | *monēmor |
2nd. Plur. | *monētes | *monēmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *moneont | *moneontor |
Past Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *monēβam | *monēβar |
2nd. Sing. | *monēβas | *monēβazo |
3rd. Sing. | *monēβad | *monēβator |
1st. Plur. | *monēβamos | *monēβamor |
2nd. Plur. | *monēβates | *monēβamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *monēβand | *monēβantor |
Future Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *monēsō | *monēsor |
2nd. Sing. | *monēses | *monēsezo |
3rd. Sing. | *monēst | *monēstor |
1st. Plur. | *monēsomos | *monēsomor |
2nd. Plur. | *monēstes | *monēsemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *monēsont | *monēsontor |
Present Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *moneōm | *moneōr |
2nd. Sing. | *moneēs | *moneēzo |
3rd. Sing. | *moneēd | *moneētor |
1st. Plur. | *moneōmos | *moneōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *moneētes | *moneēmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *moneōnd | *moneōntor |
Past Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *monesōm | *monesōr |
2nd. Sing. | *monesе̄s | *monesе̄zo |
3rd. Sing. | *monesе̄d | *monesе̄tor |
1st. Plur. | *monesōmos | *monesōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *monesе̄tes | *monesе̄menai |
3rd. Plur. | *monesōnd | *monesōntor |
Optative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *moneojam | *moneojar |
2nd. Sing. | *moneojas | *moneojazo |
3rd. Sing. | *moneojad | *moneojator |
1st. Plur. | *moneojamos | *moneojamor |
2nd. Plur. | *moneojates | *moneojamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *moneojand | *moneojantor |
Present Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd. Sing. | *monē | *monēzo |
2nd. Plur. | *monēte | — |
Future Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd/3rd. Sing. | *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) [42]
Present Indicative | Active | Passive |
---|---|---|
1st. Sing. | *walēō | *walēor |
2nd. Sing. | *walēs | *walēzo |
3rd. Sing. | *walēt | *walētor |
1st. Plur. | *walēmos | *walēmor |
2nd. Plur. | *walētes | *walēmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *walēnt | *walēntor |
Past Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *walēβam | *walēβar |
2nd. Sing. | *walēβas | *walēβazo |
3rd. Sing. | *walēβad | *walēβator |
1st. Plur. | *walēβamos | *walēβamor |
2nd. Plur. | *walēβates | *walēβamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *walēβand | *walēβantor |
Future Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *walēsō | *walēsor |
2nd. Sing. | *walēses | *walēsezo |
3rd. Sing. | *walēst | *walēstor |
1st. Plur. | *walēsomos | *walēsomor |
2nd. Plur. | *walēstes | *walēsemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *walēsont | *walēsontor |
Present Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *walēōm | *walēōr |
2nd. Sing. | *walēēs | *walēēzo |
3rd. Sing. | *walēēd | *walēētor |
1st. Plur. | *walēōmos | *walēōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *walēētes | *walēēmenai |
3rd. Plur. | *walēōnd | *walēōntor |
Past Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *walēsōm | *walēsōr |
2nd. Sing. | *walēsе̄s | *walēsе̄zo |
3rd. Sing. | *walēsе̄d | *walēsе̄tor |
1st. Plur. | *walēsōmos | *walēsōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *walēsе̄tes | *walēsе̄menai |
3rd. Plur. | *walēsōnd | *walēsōntor |
Optative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *walēojam | *walēojar |
2nd. Sing. | *walēojas | *walēojazo |
3rd. Sing. | *walēojad | *walēojator |
1st. Plur. | *walēojamos | *walēojamor |
2nd. Plur. | *walēojates | *walēojamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *walēojand | *walēojantor |
Present Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd. Sing. | *walē | *walēzo |
2nd. Plur. | *walēte | — |
Future Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd/3rd. Sing. | *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) [43]
Present Indicative | Active | Passive |
---|---|---|
1st. Sing. | *edō | *edor |
2nd. Sing. | *edes | *edezo |
3rd. Sing. | *edet | *edetor |
1st. Plur. | *edomos | *edomor |
2nd. Plur. | *edetes | *edemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *edont | *edontor |
Past Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *edoβam | *edoβar |
2nd. Sing. | *edoβas | *edoβazo |
3rd. Sing. | *edoβad | *edoβator |
1st. Plur. | *edoβamos | *edoβamor |
2nd. Plur. | *edoβates | *edoβamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *edoβand | *edoβantor |
Future Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *edesō | *edesor |
2nd. Sing. | *edeses | *edesezo |
3rd. Sing. | *edest | *edestor |
1st. Plur. | *edesomos | *edesomor |
2nd. Plur. | *edestes | *edesemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *edesont | *edesontor |
Present Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *edōm | *edōr |
2nd. Sing. | *edе̄s | *edе̄zo |
3rd. Sing. | *edе̄d | *edе̄tor |
1st. Plur. | *edōmos | *edōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *edе̄tes | *edе̄menai |
3rd. Plur. | *edōnd | *edōntor |
Past Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *edesōm | *edesōr |
2nd. Sing. | *edesе̄s | *edesе̄zo |
3rd. Sing. | *edesе̄d | *edesе̄tor |
1st. Plur. | *edesōmos | *edesōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *edesе̄tes | *edesе̄menai |
3rd. Plur. | *edesōnd | *edesōntor |
Optative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *edojam | *edojar |
2nd. Sing. | *edojas | *edojazo |
3rd. Sing. | *edojad | *edojator |
1st. Plur. | *edojamos | *edojamor |
2nd. Plur. | *edojates | *edojamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *edojand | *edojantor |
Present Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd. Sing. | *ede | *edezo |
2nd. Plur. | *edete | — |
Future Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd/3rd. Sing. | *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-je/jo- (to come) [44]
Present Indicative | Active | Passive |
---|---|---|
1st. Sing. | *gʷenjō | *gʷenjor |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenjes | *gʷenjezo |
3rd. Sing. | *gʷenjet | *gʷenjetor |
1st. Plur. | *gʷenjomos | *gʷenjomor |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjetes | *gʷenjemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *gʷenjont | *gʷenjontor |
Past Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *gʷenjoβam | *gʷenjoβar |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenjoβas | *gʷenjoβazo |
3rd. Sing. | *gʷenjoβad | *gʷenjoβator |
1st. Plur. | *gʷenjoβamos | *gʷenjoβamor |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjoβates | *gʷenjoβamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *gʷenjoβand | *gʷenjoβantor |
Future Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *gʷenjesō | *gʷenjesor |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenjeses | *gʷenjesezo |
3rd. Sing. | *gʷenjest | *gʷenjestor |
1st. Plur. | *gʷenjesomos | *gʷenjesomor |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjestes | *gʷenjesemenai |
3rd. Plur. | *gʷenjesont | *gʷenjesontor |
Present Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *gʷenjōm | *gʷenjōr |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenjе̄s | *gʷenjе̄zo |
3rd. Sing. | *gʷenjе̄d | *gʷenjе̄tor |
1st. Plur. | *gʷenjōmos | *gʷenjōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjе̄tes | *gʷenjе̄menai |
3rd. Plur. | *gʷenjōnd | *gʷenjōntor |
Past Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *gʷenjesōm | *gʷenjesōr |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenjesе̄s | *gʷenjesе̄zo |
3rd. Sing. | *gʷenjesе̄d | *gʷenjesе̄tor |
1st. Plur. | *gʷenjesōmos | *gʷenjesōmor |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjesе̄tes | *gʷenjesе̄menai |
3rd. Plur. | *gʷenjesōnd | *gʷenjesōntor |
Optative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *gʷenjojam | *gʷenjojar |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenjojas | *gʷenjojazo |
3rd. Sing. | *gʷenjojad | *gʷenjojator |
1st. Plur. | *gʷenjojamos | *gʷenjojamor |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjojates | *gʷenjojamenai |
3rd. Plur. | *gʷenjojand | *gʷenjojantor |
Present Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd. Sing. | *gʷenje | *gʷenjezo |
2nd. Plur. | *gʷenjete | — |
Future Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd/3rd. Sing. | *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) [45] [39]
Present Indicative | Active | Passive |
---|---|---|
1st. Sing. | *ezom | — |
2nd. Sing. | *es | — |
3rd. Sing. | *est | — |
1st. Plur. | *(e)somos | — |
2nd. Plur. | *(e)stes | — |
3rd. Plur. | *sent | — |
Past Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *fuβam | — |
2nd. Sing. | *fuβas | — |
3rd. Sing. | *fuβad | — |
1st. Plur. | *fuβamos | — |
2nd. Plur. | *fuβates | — |
3rd. Plur. | *fuβand | — |
Future Indicative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *fuzom | — |
2nd. Sing. | *fus | — |
3rd. Sing. | *fust | — |
1st. Plur. | *fuzomos | — |
2nd. Plur. | *fustes | — |
3rd. Plur. | *fuzent | — |
Present Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *ezom | — |
2nd. Sing. | *ezes | — |
3rd. Sing. | *ezed | — |
1st. Plur. | *ezomos | — |
2nd. Plur. | *ezetes | — |
3rd. Plur. | *ezond | — |
Past Subjunctive | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *fuzom, *essom | — |
2nd. Sing. | *fuzes, *esses | — |
3rd. Sing. | *fuzed, *essed | — |
1st. Plur. | *fuzomos, *essomos | — |
2nd. Plur. | *fuzetes, *essetes | — |
3rd. Plur. | *fuzond, *essond | — |
Optative | Active | Passive |
1st. Sing. | *siēm | — |
2nd. Sing. | *siēs | — |
3rd. Sing. | *siēd | — |
1st. Plur. | *sīmos | — |
2nd. Plur. | *sītes | — |
3rd. Plur. | *sīnd | — |
Present Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd. Sing. | *es | — |
2nd. Plur. | *este | — |
Future Imperative | Active | Passive |
2nd/3rd. Sing. | *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).
Perfective Aspect [39]
According to Rix(2002), 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 perfect 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 perfect forms for each stem. For example, De Vaan gives the forms *fēk-, *fak- for the perfect stem of *fakiō, and the reduplicated 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.
Example Long-Vowel Conjugation: *fēk- (to have done). [46] Alternatively *θēk- (from PIE *dʰeh₁-) if PIt is reconstructed at a stage before /xʷ/ and /θ/ had merged with /f/ [ɸ].
Perfect | Active |
---|---|
1st Sing. | *fēkai |
2nd Sing. | *fēkistai |
3rd Sing. | *fēked |
1st Plur. | *fēkomos |
2nd Plur. | *fēkistes |
3rd Plur. | *fēkēri |
Example Reduplicated Conjugation: *fefu- (to have been) [45]
Perfect | Active |
---|---|
1st Sing. | *fefuai |
2nd Sing. | *fefuistai |
3rd Sing. | *fefued |
1st Plur. | *fefuomos |
2nd Plur. | *fefuistes |
3rd Plur. | *fefuēri |
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.
PItal | Pre-O-U | Oscan | Umbrian | Pre-Latin | Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
*-ns | *-ns | -ss | -f | *-ns | -s |
*-nts | *-nts | -ns | |||
*-nt | *-nts | -ns | — |
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