Editing Indo-European Languages

The <u>Indo-European</u> language family, one of the world's largest language families, encompasses a wide range of languages spoken across <u>Europe</u>, <u>Asia</u>; through much of the world by way of <u>European</u> colonization. Despite the significant diversity in the family, resulting from thousands of years of evolution, migration, and contact with unrelated languages, there are common traits that can be traced back to their shared ancestry. These commonalities, while sometimes abstract or obscured by language change, include phonological, morphological, syntactic, and lexical features. 

The modern <u>Indo-European</u> languages with the most native speakers are <u>Spanish</u>, <u>English</u>, <u>Hindi–Urdu</u>, <u>Bengali</u>, <u>Portuguese</u>, <u>Russian</u>, <u>Punjabi</u>, <u>French</u> and <u>German</u> (each with over 100 million native speakers), while many others are small and in danger of extinction. Nine of its historical subfamilies are completely extinct.  

In total, 46% of the world's population (3.2 billion people) speaks an <u>Indo-European</u> first language (by far the highest of any language family). There are about 445 currently spoken <u>Indo-European</u> languages, with over two-thirds (313) of them belonging to the <u>Indo-Iranian</u> branch.

The IE family has the second-longest written history of any known family, after the [[Afroasiatic Languages|Afroasiatic]] languages (particularly <u>Egyptian</u>, ~3200 BCE and <u>Akkadian</u>, ~2500 BCE). 

== Common Traits ==
<u>Indo-European</u> languages split into two groups based on their treatment of certain '''velar consonants'''. '''Centum''' languages (like <u>Latin</u>, <u>Greek</u>, and <u>Germanic</u> languages) merged or kept these velars distinct, while '''Satem''' languages (like <u>Indo-Iranian</u> languages) '''palatalized''' them.

Certain phonological changes, such as '''Grimm's Law''' in <u>Germanic</u> languages (a systematic shift of consonant sounds) can be traced back to common <u>Indo-European</u> roots.

Many <u>Indo-European</u> languages utilize '''inflections''' to convey grammatical relationships. This includes the use of '''case endings''' in nouns to indicate their role in a sentence (nominative, accusative, genitive) and verb '''conjugations''' to express tense, mood, aspect, and voice. A common trait is the distinction between '''aspect''' (perfective versus imperfective) and '''mood''' (indicative, subjunctive, imperative) in verb systems, although the specifics can vary widely among the languages.

It is hypothesized that the <u>Proto-Indo-European</u> language might have predominantly used an '''SOV''' (Subject Object Verb) '''word order''', which is still found in some modern Indo-European languages, although many have shifted to '''SVO''' (Subject Verb Object).

There are many '''cognates''' (words derived from a common ancestral word) across <u>Indo-European</u> languages in basic vocabulary such as <u>family terms</u> (mother, father), <u>numbers</u>, and <u>body parts</u>. The reconstruction of the <u>Proto-Indo-European</u> language has provided a basis for identifying these common roots. Similar processes for creating words from roots, including '''suffixation''' and '''prefixation''', can be observed across the family.

Comparative mythology has found recurring '''themes''' and '''deities''' in the mythologies of various <u>Indo-European</u> cultures, suggesting a common proto-mythology. Similarities in '''poetic''' and '''metrical''' forms have been observed, indicating a shared tradition of oral literature.

It's important to note that while these traits can be identified across <u>Indo-European</u> languages, the extent and manner in which they are present can vary greatly due to the vast time scale of linguistic evolution, geographical dispersion, and contact with non-Indo-European languages. Additionally, the <u>Indo-European</u> family is a historical construct based on linguistic evidence; thus, the features of individual languages have diverged significantly from their proto-language over millennia.

== Indo-European Language Branches ==
The family consists of several major subfamilies:

* [[Anatolian Languages|Anatolian]], an extinct branch of languages spoken in/around <u>Anatolia</u>, in modern <u>Türkiye</u>. 
* [[Hellenic Languages|Hellenic]] (the <u>Ancient Greek</u> dialects), spoken around the <u>Aegean</u>, <u>Mediterranean</u>, and <u>Black Sea</u>.
* [[Italic languages|Italic]] (including <u>Latin</u>), spoken by the peoples of the <u>Italian peninsula</u>.
* [[Germanic Languages|Germanic]], initially spoken in <u>Northern Europe</u> and <u>Scandinavia</u>.
* [[Indo-Iranian Language|Indo-Iranian]], initially spoken around the <u>Iranian plateau</u> and then into <u>Central Asia</u> and <u>South Asia</u>.
* [[Balto-Slavic Languages|Balto-Slavic]], spoken across <u>Central Europe</u> and <u>Eastern Europe</u>.
* [[Celtic Languages|Celtic]], spoken across <u>France, Belgium</u>, <u>Ireland</u>, the <u>British Isles</u>, <u>Iberia</u>, and beyond. 

There are also a number of languages that are within the Indo-European family but do not necessarily belong to a distinct branch of subfamily:

* Albanian
* Armenian
* Tocharian
* Thracian
* Illyrian
* Dacian
* Liburnian
* Ligurian
* Lusitanian
* Messapic
* Phrygian

== Proto-Indo-European Roots ==
The <u>Proto-Indo-European</u> ('''PIE''') language is the hypothetical common ancestor of the <u>Indo-European</u> language family. Despite the absence of direct records, linguists have reconstructed aspects of PIE based on systematic comparisons of its descendant languages, utilizing the '''comparative method'''. This reconstruction offers insights into its phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon, as well as aspects of the culture and environment of its speakers. The consensus on PIE, while robust in many areas, is still subject to ongoing research and debate. 

PIE is believed to have had a complex system of '''consonants''' and '''vowels''', with distinctions between voiced, voiceless, and aspirated '''stops''', as well as '''sonorants''' (nasals, liquids) and '''sibilants'''. The existence of '''laryngeal''' sounds, which have left their trace primarily in the vowel system of descendant languages, is a significant aspect of PIE phonology that was uncovered through the analysis of anomalies in the phonetic patterns of these languages.

Most scholars now believe there were three distinct laryngeals, which can be written ''H<sub>1</sub>'', ''H<sub>2</sub>'', and ''H<sub>3</sub>''. Of these, ''H<sub>1</sub>'' may ha ve been ''h'' or a '''glottal stop'''; ''H<sub>2</sub>'' was perhaps a '''pharyngeal spirant''' like <u>Arabic</u> ''ḥ'' in ''ḥams'' ‘five’; ''H<sub>3</sub>'', whatever its other features, was probably '''voiced'''. When laryngeals between consonants disappeared a vowel sometimes remained, as in <u>Greek</u> ''stásis'', <u>Sanskrit</u> ''sthitis'', <u>Old English</u> ''stede'' ‘a standing (place)’ from <u>Proto-Indo-European</u> *''stH<sub>2</sub>tis''. Before the advent of the '''laryngeal theory''', a separate <u>Proto-Indo-European</u> vowel ''ə'' (called '''schwa indogermanicum''') was reconstructed to account for these correspondences.

PIE '''nouns''' and '''adjectives''' are reconstructed with a system of '''declensions''', including '''cases''' such as nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and ablative; '''gender''' (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and '''number''' (singular, dual, and plural) distinctions were also present. The PIE verb system is believed to have included '''aspects''' (imperfect versus perfect), '''mood''' (indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative), '''voice''' (active, middle, and possibly passive), and a rich set of conjugations to express '''tense''' (present, past, future).

The reconstructed syntax of PIE suggests a '''flexible word order''' with a tendency towards '''SOV''' (Subject-Object-Verb), similar to many of its ancient descendants such as <u>Sanskrit</u> and <u>Ancient Greek</u>. The use of cases allowed for this flexibility, as syntactic roles were marked on the nouns rather than determined by position.

Reconstruction of the PIE lexicon has provided insights into the culture and environment of its speakers. Terms related to family, animals, nature, agriculture, technology, and the divine suggest a '''pastoral-agrarian''' society. Thus is it supposed that the community knew and talked about dogs (*''ḱwón-''), horses (*''H<sub>1</sub>éḱwo-''), sheep (*''H<sub>3</sub>éwi-''), and almost certainly cows (*''g<sup>w</sup>ów-'') and pigs (*''súH-''), all of which were likely '''domesticated'''. 

At least one '''cereal grain''' was known (*''yéwo-''), and at least one '''metal''' (*''H<sub>2</sub>éyos''). There were '''vehicles''' (*''wóǵho-'') with '''wheels''' (*''k<sup>w</sup>ék<sup>w</sup>lo-''), pulled by teams joined by '''yokes''' (*''yugó-''). '''Honey''' was known, and it probably formed the basis of an alcoholic drink (*''mélit-'', *''médhu'') related to the <u>English</u> '''mead'''. Numerals up through 100 (*''ḱm̥tóm'') were in use. All this suggests a people with a well-developed <u>Neolithic</u> or even <u>Chalcolithic</u> technology.

While more speculative, the reconstruction of PIE vocabulary has led scholars to infer aspects of PIE society, including its '''patrilineal''' and '''patriarchal''' structure, importance of '''kinship''' and '''hospitality''', and practices related to agriculture, animal husbandry, and '''warfare'''. Mythological reconstructions point towards a religion that included '''sky father''' gods, '''earth mother''' goddesses, and a complex set of '''ritual''' practices.
{| class="wikitable"
!Number
!'''Proposed PIE Reconstruction'''
|-
|one
|*Hoi-no-/*Hoi-wo-/*Hoi-k(ʷ)o-; *sem-
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Hoi(H)nos ; sem-/sm̥-
|-
|two
|*d(u)wo-
<nowiki>*</nowiki>du̯oh
|-
|three
|*trei- ''(full grade)'' / *tri- ''(zero grade)''
<nowiki>*</nowiki>trei̯es
|-
|four
|*kʷetwor- ''(o-grade)'' / *kʷetur- ''(zero grade)''
<nowiki>*</nowiki>kʷétu̯ōr
|-
|five
|*penkʷe
|-
|six
|*s(w)eḱs; ''originally perhaps'' *weḱs
<nowiki>*</nowiki>(s)u̯éks
|-
|seven
|*septḿ̥
<nowiki>*</nowiki>séptm̥
|-
|eight
|*oḱtō, *oḱtou ''or'' *heḱtō, *heḱtou
<nowiki>*</nowiki>heḱteh
|-
|nine
|*(h)newn̥
<nowiki>*</nowiki>(h₁)néun
|-
|ten
|*déḱm̥(t)
<nowiki>*</nowiki>déḱm̥t
|}
Rather than specifically 'one hundred,' *''ḱm̥tóm'' (*dḱm̥tóm) may originally have meant 'a large number.'

The reference to '''grade''' relates to the '''ablaut''' system, a type of vowel '''gradation''' that occurs in the root of a word. Ablaut is a fundamental aspect of PIE and many of its descendant languages, affecting how words are '''inflected''' and how their related forms are derived. The concept of grade in PIE linguistics refers to the variations in the root vowel that occur in different forms of a word, often corresponding to grammatical or semantic changes. There are typically three main grades recognized in PIE ablaut patterns:

* <u>Full Grade</u> (E-Grade or O-Grade): Includes the presence of a full vowel, either *e or *o, in the root of the word. It is often seen in the basic form or "strong" cases of a noun or the present tense of a verb. For example, the *e in *trei- ("three") represents a full grade.
* <u>Zero Grade</u>: The vowel of the root is absent or reduced, often resulting in the contraction of surrounding consonants. It occurs in various grammatical forms, such as in certain noun cases or in verb conjugations. The absence of the vowel in *tri- (a reduced form of 'three') and *kʷetur- ('four') illustrates the zero grade.
* <u>Lengthened Grade</u>: This involves the lengthening of the vowel in the root, which can appear in certain grammatical contexts or to indicate a semantic difference. It's represented by ē or ō in reconstructions.

The ablaut system is one reason for the complexity of PIE verb '''conjugations''' and noun '''declensions''', as well as the formation of various grammatical '''moods''' and '''aspects'''.

== Divergence of PIE into the IE Language Family ==
It is difficult, if not impossible, for linguists to date the divergence from PIE based on the existing evidence. The best that can be done is to estimate how different each language is to the others, and then comparing that degree of difference across the family (paying special attention to branches like the [[Romance Languages|Romance]] subfamily, where dates of divergence have a stronger foundation). 

Based on this, it is generally 'calculated' that the earliest branches of <u>Indo-European</u> languages ([[Anatolian Languages|Anatolian]], [[Indo-Iranian Languages|Indo-Iranian]], and [[Hellenic Languages|Hellenic]]) began to emerge ~3000 BCE, with the ancestral (PIE) language itself likely emerging up to a millennium before this. The initial PIE population was likely a small, homogenous <u>Eurasian</u> group that expanded and fragmented significantly around ~4000 BCE.  

Many steppe cultures extended across the entire <u>Black Sea</u> to <u>Caspian Sea</u> region (the <u>Caucasus</u>; modern <u>Russia;</u> <u>Georgia</u>; <u>Azerbaijan</u>; <u>Armenia;</u> and <u>NE Türkiye</u>; it is believed that multiple migrations of these peoples moved outward from the core homeland in different time periods, possibly coming to dominate indigenous populations as a new warrior elite, possibly via 'elite recruitment'.  

* <u>Ciscaucasia</u> lies within <u>Russian</u> territory and includes the foothills and plains extending northward from the primary range of the <u>Caucasus Mountains</u>. It is home to the '''North Caucasus Federal District''', which encompasses several <u>Russian</u> republics.
* <u>Transcaucasia</u> is south of the <u>Caucasus Mountains</u> and includes the modern countries of <u>Georgia</u>, <u>Armenia</u>, and <u>Azerbaijan</u>. 
According to the widely held '''Kurgan hypothesis''' (or renewed Steppe hypothesis), the oldest migration branch of steppe migrants produced the [[Anatolian Languages|Anatolian languages]] (<u>Hittite</u> and <u>Luwian</u>) which split from the earliest <u>proto-Indo-European</u> speech community (archaic PIE) inhabiting the <u>Volga basin</u>. The second-oldest branch language group, <u>Tocharian</u>, was spoken in the <u>Tarim Basin</u> (now <u>western China</u>), after splitting from early PIE spoken on the eastern <u>Pontic steppe</u>. The bulk of the <u>Indo-European</u> languages developed from later PIE, which according to this hypothesis was spoken within the <u>Yamnaya</u> horizon on the <u>Pontic–Caspian</u> steppe around 3000 BCE.

'Elite recruitment' refers to a process where the social, political, or military elite of a migrating group exerts influence over the indigenous populations they encounter, leading to the adoption of the elite's language and cultural practices by the larger population. This influence does not necessarily require large-scale migration or displacement of the existing population; instead, the prestige or power of the elite group drives the adoption of their language and culture.

A remote relationship of <u>Indo-European</u> to the [[Uralic Languages|Uralic languages]] is possible; both families appear to have developed in relatively close proximity, and they share a number of similarities in terms of grammatical elements (particularly with pronouns, personal endings of verbs, the accusative case, and some terms). Both families also have many suffixes but few or no prefixes or infixes. Aside from these features, there are few other similarities - so if they are related, it would have been through an ancestor that existed thousands of years ago. Still, there are many more similarities between <u>Indo-European</u> and <u>Uralic</u> as compared to other language families such as <u>Afro-Asiatic</u> and <u>Kartvelian</u>, indicating a closer temporal proximity in terms of when they diverged from one another. The idea of any kind of reconstructed '''superfamily''' preceding them is bereft of evidence. 

As '''PIE''' split into the dialects that would eventually spawn the family's first '''daughter languages''', different regions developed distinct changes. Among the <u>Central Asian</u> and <u>Eastern European</u> dialects, the palatal stops (*''ḱ'', *''ǵ'', and *''ǵh'') favored by PIE were changed into '''fricatives''' (''s, ś, th'', et cetera) or '''affricates''' (ch, j). In this way, from the basic PIE element *''H<sub>2</sub>eḱ (''meaning ‘sharp, pointed') we see the following transmutations: 

* <u>Sanskrit:</u> ''aśri'' - 'edge.’ The change from PIE *ḱ to "ś" is characteristic.
* <u>Old Church Slavonic:</u> ''ostrŭ'' - ‘sharp.' Reflecting the common Slavic treatment of PIE *ḱ as 's' or 'st.'
* <u>Armenian:</u> ''asełn'' - ‘needle.' 
* <u>Albanian:</u> ''athëtë'' - ‘bitter.’
* <u>Greek:</u> ''ákros'' meaning ‘tip.’ The change from *ḱ to 'k' is a feature of <u>Greek</u> phonology. 
* <u>Latin:</u> ''acidus'' meaning ‘biting,' *ḱ becoming 'c' is a common <u>Latin</u> development.

=== Satem versus Centum ===
The languages that change the palatal stops into affricates are known as the '''satem''' languages - from the <u>Avestan</u> word ''satəm'' ‘hundred’ (from PIE *''kmtóm''), which illustrates the change. The languages that preserve the palatal stops as ''k''-like sounds are known as '''centum''' languages, from ''centum'' (/kentum/), the corresponding word in <u>Latin</u>. Satem languages are not geographically separated from one another by any centum languages, which implies this change happened only once, but occurred across a contiguous language area of PIE. 

==== Boundaries between Satem and Centum Languages ====
Generally, there is an east-west division within the family, with the satem languages predominantly situated in the east, and the centum languages occupying the west. 

The boundary begins in <u>Europe</u>, where the <u>Baltic</u> and <u>Slavic</u> languages mark the westernmost extent of the satem languages. The division here separates the satem-speaking <u>Slavic</u> and <u>Baltic</u> regions from the centum-speaking <u>Germanic</u> and <u>Romance</u>-speaking areas of <u>Western Europe</u>.

The boundary continues, separating the <u>Slavic</u> languages in <u>Eastern Europe</u> from the <u>Germanic</u> languages to the northwest and the <u>Romance</u> languages to the southwest. The Satem-Centum divide here is not purely geographical but correlates with the linguistic landscape shaped by historical migrations and the <u>Roman Empire</u>'s influence.

The boundary extends south, where the historical presence of satem-speaking <u>Thracian</u>, <u>Dacian</u>, and <u>Illyrian</u> languages differentiated these areas from the centum-speaking regions of ancient <u>Italy</u> and <u>Greece</u>. This area is more complex due to the historical movements of peoples and the eventual dominance of <u>Slavic</u> languages in much of the <u>Balkans</u>. To the northeast of the <u>Black Sea</u>, the boundary delineates the <u>Indo-Iranian</u> languages of the satem group from the <u>Anatolian</u> languages and the ancient <u>Greek</u> dialects, which were centum languages.

The boundary extends into <u>Asia</u>, encompassing the vast area of <u>Iran</u> and <u>Central Asia</u>, where <u>Iranian</u> languages are spoken, and further into <u>South Asia</u>, home to the <u>Indo-Aryan</u> languages. The boundary skirts around the <u>Caucasus</u> region, which is linguistically diverse and includes languages from both the <u>Indo-European</u> family (including <u>Armenian</u>, a satem language) and many non-Indo-European languages.

=== 'bh' -> 'm' ===
In two families ([[Balto-Slavic Languages|Balto-Slavic]] and [[Germanic Languages|Germanic]]), certain cases that ended in 'bh' or a related phoneme in other Indo-European languages were replaced with an 'm' sound (including in <u>English</u>, a <u>Germanic</u> language, where the word 'the'''m'''<nowiki/>' is a key example). The same is true in <u>Old Church Slavonic</u>, where it becomes  ''tě-'''m'''ŭ'' ('to those ones'). In more easterly languages, it remains. In <u>Sanskrit</u> ''té-'''bh'''yas'' ‘to those ones,’ <u>Armenian</u> ''noro-'''vk'''ʿ'' ‘with new ones,’ <u>Albanian</u> ''male-'''ve''''' ‘to mountains,’ <u>Greek</u> ''ókhes-'''phin''''' ‘with chariots,’ <u>Latin</u> ''omni-'''bus''''' ‘for all.’

<u>Balto-Slavic</u> and <u>Germanic</u> are neighbors, so it's believed that this phonemic transition occurred only once in a proto-parent shared by these two branches. It exists in a partial, but not complete, overlap of the region affected by the satem change, above. Rarely do these sorts of changes in two branches of the family overlap the exact same territory. 

== Dialects into Families ==
No later than 2500 BCE in most cases, these developing dialects had differentiated enough to be called distinct languages. While each had become distinct, additional similarities developed throughout history on account of '''borrowing''' and other convergences. 

A very common trait among descendant families is the reduction of syllables, usually showing up as the loss of final or unaccented syllables, or certain consonants sitting between vowels (often replaced by a contraction). Words in many <u>Indo-European</u> languages are significantly shorter than ancestral PIE forms: <u>English</u> ‘four,’ <u>Armenian</u> ''čʿorkʿ'', <u>colloquial Persian</u> ''čar'' from *''k<sup>w</sup>etwóres''; <u>French</u> ''vit'' ‘lives’ from *''g<sup>w</sup>íH<sub>3</sub>weti''; <u>Russian</u> ''dvestí'' ‘two hundred’ from *''duwóyH<sub>1</sub> ḱm̥tóyH<sub>1</sub>''.

Final syllables were often meaningful in PIE, bearing '''inflectional''' markers; this change led to widespread grammatical consequences, causing the loss of '''case systems''' and '''gender systems''', but usually preserving the marker for '''plurality'''. This is true even in verbs - in <u>English</u>, 'to love' has lost any indication of the subject (I/we/you all use the same form: ''love'' compared to <u>Russian</u>: ''ljubljú, ljúbish, ljúbit''). 

Noun systems have generally been simplified, and '''plurality''' has been reduced to eliminate differentiation for '''dual''', and '''genders''' have reduced from three to two (<u>French</u>, <u>Swedish</u>, <u>Lithuanian</u>, <u>Hindi-Urdu</u>) or been eliminated completely (<u>English</u>, <u>Armenian</u>, <u>Bengali</u>). <u>Slavic</u> is an outlier, in that it has created an even more complicated gender system, adding distinctions of '''animacy''' and '''personal''' versus '''nonpersonal'''. 

In almost all descendants, the eight PIE '''cases''' have been reduced, and in some languages (like <u>French</u> and <u>Welsh</u>) nouns are not inflected for case at all. Some languages built new cases atop the others - <u>Old Lithuanian</u> had in addition to seven cases inherited from PIE an <u>illative</u> (place into), made by adding -''n(a)'' to the <u>accusative</u> (''peklosna'' ‘into hell’), an <u>allative</u> (place to, toward), made by adding -''p(i)'' to the <u>genitive</u> (''Jesausp'' ‘to Jesus’), and an <u>adessive</u> (place at which), made by adding -''p(i)'' to the <u>locative</u> (''Joniep'' ‘in John’). In many other languages, forms have been added, lost, or changed their meanings or usages. 

Very little actual vocabulary in any family actually descends noticeably from the ancestral language - no language has more than a few hundred examples; they are usually pronouns; numbers; and simple, easily understood adverbs, prepositions, nouns, verbs, or adjectives. This is complicated by the presence of geographically close non-Indo-European neighbors that are different for each branch or language, which have provided divergent loan-words and other borrowing.  

In prehistory, most of the branches of <u>Indo-European</u> were carried into territories that are presumed to have been occupied by non-Indo-European-speaking peoples, and it is very likely that these indigenous languages also had an effect on the divergence of the family's constituents. In <u>India</u>, grammatical features have spread into <u>Indo-European</u> languages from <u>Dravidian</u> influences, and vice versa.  



[[Category:Linguistics]]