Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷís

This Proto-Indo-European entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Indo-European

Etymology

A PIE interrogative-indefinite paradigm built from the stems *kʷi- and *kʷe- (parallel to anaphoric *i-, *e-), the former on nominative and accusative cases of all genders, the latter elsewhere, with no distinction of feminine forms, mostly "human" – "non-human". A stem *kʷo-, an o-stem adjective, with its corresponding feminine *kʷeh₂-, was originally separate, but in most languages there was some conflation with the other two, as it is from this function that the relative pronoun evolves.

Dunkel speculates about *kʷe- and *kʷi- coming from *kʷ- + *e- and *í- respectively, with *kʷ- possibly being an early contraction of *kú (“where?”) to a labiovelar. For the semantic development, compare Proto-Germanic *hwarjaz, ultimately from *kʷór + *Hyós.^[1]

Pronoun

*kʷís^[1]

who, what (interrogative)
who, which, that (relative)

Declension

Andrew Sihler's reconstruction^[2]
	Singular			Plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	*kʷís	*kʷís	*kʷíd	*kʷéyes	*kʷéyes	*kʷíh₂
accusative	*kʷím	*kʷím	*kʷíd	*kʷíms	*kʷíms	*kʷíh₂
genitive	*kʷésyo	*kʷésyo	*kʷésyo	*kʷéysom	*kʷéysom	*kʷéysom
dative	*kʷésmey	*kʷésmey	*kʷésmey	*kʷeybʰ-	*kʷeybʰ-	*kʷeybʰ-
locative	*kʷésmi	*kʷésmi	*kʷésmi	*kʷeysu	*kʷeysu	*kʷeysu

Robert Beekes's reconstruction^[3]
	Singular			Plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	*kʷé	*kʷé	*kʷíd	*kʷéy	*kʷéy	*kʷíh₂
accusative	*kʷím	*kʷím	*kʷíd	*?	*?	*kʷíh₂
genitive	*kʷéso	*kʷéso	*kʷéso	*?	*?	*?
ablative	*kʷéd?	*kʷéd?	*kʷéd?	*?	*?	*?
dative	*kʷésmey	*kʷésmey	*kʷésmey	*?	*?	*?
locative	*kʷésmi	*kʷésmi	*kʷésmi	*?	*?	*?
instrumental	*kʷéy	*kʷéy	*kʷéy	*?	*?	*?

Michiel de Vaan's reconstruction^[4]
	Singular			Plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	kʷe / kʷís	kʷe / kʷís	*kʷíd	*kʷéyes	*kʷéyes	*kʷíh₂
accusative	*kʷím	*kʷím	*kʷíd	*kʷíns	*kʷíns	*kʷíh₂
genitive	*kʷéso	*kʷéso	*kʷéso	*?	*?	*?
dative	*kʷésm-	*kʷésm-	*kʷésm-	*?	*?	*?
locative	*kʷésm-	*kʷésm-	*kʷésm-	*?	*?	*?
instrumental	*kʷih₁	*kʷih₁	*kʷih₁	*?	*?	*?

Determiner

*kʷós

which, what

Declension

Andrew Sihler's reconstruction^[2]
	Singular			Plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	*kʷós	*kʷéh₂	*kʷód	*kʷóy	*kʷeh₂(e)s	*kʷeh₂
accusative	*kʷóm	*kʷéh₂m	*kʷód	*kʷóms	*kʷeh₂ms	*kʷeh₂
genitive	*kʷósyo	*?	*kʷósyo	*?	*?	*?
dative	*kʷósmey	*?	*kʷósmey	*?	*?	*?

Robert Beekes's reconstruction^[3]
	Singular			Plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	*kʷó	*kʷéh₂	*kʷód	*kʷóy	*kʷéh₂es?	*kʷh₂?
accusative	*kʷóm	*?	*kʷíd	*?	*?	*kʷíh₂
genitive	*kʷóso	*?	*kʷóso	*?	*?	*?
ablative	*kʷósmōd?	*?	*kʷósmōd?	*?	*?	*?
dative	*kʷósmōy	*?	*kʷósmōy	*?	*?	*?
locative	*kʷósmi	*?	*kʷósmi	*?	*?	*?
instrumental	*kʷóy	*?	*kʷóy	*?	*?	*?

Derived terms

*kʷi-h₂ (nom./acc.pl. n.)^[4] or *kʷy-á^[1]
- Proto-Albanian:
  - >? Albanian: sa (“how much”)
- Proto-Hellenic:
  - Doric Greek: σᾰ́ (sắ), Boeotian Greek: τᾰ́ (tắ, “why?”)
- Proto-Italic: *kʷia
  - Latin: quia (“because”) (see there for further descendants)

*kʷé-h₁ (“how?”)^[1]
- Proto-Germanic: *hwē
  - Old Norse: hvé
    - Icelandic: hve
  - Gothic: 𐍈𐌴 (ƕē)
- Proto-Hellenic: *kʷē
  - Ancient Greek: πῆ (pê, “where?”), πη (pē, “somewhere”)

*kʷí-h₁ (“how?”)

*kʷó-h₁ (“how?”, instrumental)^[1]
- Proto-Balto-Slavic:
  - Lithuanian: kuõ
- Proto-Germanic: *hwō (“how”, instr.) (see there for further descendants)
- Proto-Hellenic: *kʷō
  - Ancient Greek: πω (pō), πώ (pṓ, “up to now, yet, ever”)
    Ionic Greek: κω (kō)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *kaH
  - Proto-Iranian:
    - Avestan: 𐬐𐬁 (kā, “with what?”, instr. m./n.)
- Proto-Italic: *kʷō
  - Latin: quō (“whereto; to what end, why”) (see there for further descendants)

*kʷó-bʰi^[1]^[5]
- Proto-Anatolian: *kʷóbi
  - Hittite: 𒆪𒉿𒁉 (ku-wa-pí)
- >? Proto-Celtic:
  - Old Irish: co (“how?”) (or from *kʷó-dʰi)

*kʷó-dʰe / *kʷó-dʰi (“where?”)^[1]
- >? Proto-Celtic:
  - Old Irish: co (“how?”) (or from *kʷó-bʰi)
- Proto-Germanic:
  - Gothic: 𐍈𐌰𐌸 (ƕaþ, “whither?”)
- Proto-Hellenic: *kʷótʰi
  - Ancient Greek: πόθῐ (póthĭ, “where? whither?”)

*kʷó-m (adverb)
- Proto-Balto-Slavic:
  - Old Prussian: kan (“when”)
- >? Proto-Germanic: *hwan (“at what time, when”) (or from *kʷó-na^[1]) (see there for further descendants)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *kám
  - Proto-Iranian:
    - Younger Avestan: 𐬐𐬆𐬨 (kəm, “how?”)
- Proto-Italic: *kʷom
  - Old Latin: quom
    - Latin: cum (“when; because”)
  - Oscan: 𐌐𐌞𐌍 (pún)

*kʷó-r (“where?, somewhere”)

*kʷo-tero-s (“which (of two)?”)

*kʷó-ti (“how many?”)

*kʷo-y (“where?; somewhere”, loc.sg. m./n.)^[1]^[6]
- Proto-Balto-Slavic: *kai
  - Latvian: kâ, kaî
  - Lithuanian: kai̇̃ (“when”)
  - Old Prussian: kai
  - Proto-Slavic: *cě
    - Old Church Slavonic: цѣ (cě, “and, also, besides, though”)
- Proto-Hellenic:
  - Ancient Greek: ποι (poi, “somewhere”)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian:
  - Proto-Iranian:
    - Old Persian: -𐎣𐎡𐎹 (-k-i-y /⁠-kaiy⁠/)^[7] (in 𐎠𐎭𐎣𐎡𐎹 (a-d-k-i-y /⁠adakaiy⁠/, “then, at that time”))

*kʷó íh₁^[1] (or with different particle *i^[8])
- Proto-Italic: *kʷoi (nom.sg.m.) (see there for further descendants)
- >? *kʷo-i(h₁)-yo-s^[9]
  - Proto-Hellenic: *kʷoyyos
    - Ancient Greek: ποῖος (poîos) - ποιός (poiós) (or derived from gen.pl. ποίων (poíōn),^[10] from *kʷoysōm)
  - Proto-Italic: *kʷojjos (or from gen.sg. *kʷosyo + *-s,^[11] but the phonetical development /-sj-/ > /-jj-/ is disputed^[9]^[12])
    - Old Latin: quoius
      - Latin: cuius

*kʷeh₂-kʷo-s (reduplicated) or *kʷo-h₃kʷ-o-s^[13]
- Proto-Balto-Slavic: *kāˀkas (or from *kʷeh₂-h₁-h₃kʷ-o-s (“looking how?”)^[1])
  - Lithuanian: kóks
  - Proto-Slavic: *kakъ (see there for further descendants)
- Proto-Celtic: *kʷākʷos (see there for further descendants)

*kʷéh₂-h₁ li^[1] or *kʷeh₂-li-s^[11]
- Proto-Balto-Slavic:
  - Lithuanian: kõl, kõlei (“as long as”)
  - Proto-Slavic: *kolě (with analogical *o) (see there for further descendants)
- Proto-Hellenic:
  - ⇒ Ancient Greek: πηλίκος (pēlíkos, “how great?”) (with adjectival -κός (-kós) extension)
- Proto-Italic:
  - Latin: quālis (“what kind?”) (see there for further descendants)

Unsorted formations

Latin: quirquir
>? Proto-Albanian: *tśe(i)^[14]
- Albanian: se
>? Proto-Albanian: *kai
- Albanian: që (or borrowed from Latin quī (“which”)^[15])

Descendants

The following lists the descendants of both *kʷís and *kʷós, as they were usually confused and merged together to various degrees.

Category Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *kʷís not found

Proto-Anatolian: *kʷís, *kʷo- (see there for further descendants)
Armenian:
- Old Armenian: ի- (i-), հի- (hi-), ո (o), ով (ov), որ (or), քան (kʻan)
Proto-Balto-Slavic: *kas, *ki (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Celtic: *kʷei (from *kʷís), *kʷid (from *kʷíd) (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Germanic: *hwaz (see there for further descendants)
Hellenic:
- Ancient Greek: τίς (tís) - τις (tis), ποῦ (poû) - πού (poú) (< *kʷosyo), ποῖ (poî), πῇ (pêi) - πῃ (pēi), πῶς (pôs) - πως (pōs), πότε (póte) - ποτέ (poté), πόθεν (póthen), ὅστις (hóstis), ἄττα (átta), ἄσσα (ássa), ἕκαστος (hékastos), ποδαπός (podapós), πηνίκα (pēníka), πῆμος (pêmos)
Proto-Indo-Iranian: *kíš, *kás, *kím
- Proto-Indo-Aryan: *kíṣ, *kás, *kím
  - Sanskrit: किम् (kím, “what?”), कः (káḥ), किस् (kís, “who/whether?”)
    - Hindi: किस (kis, oblique), को (ko) (dialectal)
- Proto-Iranian: *číš, *káh, *čím
  - Avestan: 𐬐𐬋 (kō), 𐬗𐬌𐬱 (ciš)
  - Northern Kurdish: kî (“who”), kê (“whom”), çi (“what”), ku (“what”) (dialectal Hekari), kîjan (“which”)
  - Persian: که (ke), چه (če), چی (či), کی (ki), کدام (kodām), کی (key), کیو (kio)
  - Pashto: څه (tse)
  - Sogdian: [script needed] (čw)
  - Khwarezmian: [script needed] (ci)
  - Ossetian: цы (cy)
  - Khotanese: 𐨕𐨂 (cu)
Proto-Italic: *kʷis, *kʷoi (see there for further descendants)
- Latin: quis, quī, quam, quoque, ut, unde
Messapic: kos (“someone”)
Phrygian: κος (kos), κιν (kin)
Proto-Tocharian: *kuse (from *kʷisó < *kʷís)
- Tocharian A: kus
- Tocharian B: kᵤse

References

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 ^1.11 Dunkel, George E. (2014) “*k^u̯ó-, *k^u̯í- 'wer?; irgendwer'”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), volume 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, pages 452-479
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 397-398
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011) Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, 2nd edition, revised and corrected by Michiel de Vaan, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 230
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “quis, quae, quid”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 510-511
^ Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008) Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 5), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 490
^ Derksen, Rick (2015) “kai”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Baltic Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 13), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 216-217
^ Kent, Roland G. (1950) Old Persian: grammar, texts, lexicon, New Haven: American Oriental Society, page 178
^ Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “quī, quae, quod”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 556
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 Untermann, Jürgen (2003). "Quoius und Valesiosio: zum pronominalen Genitiv im Lateinischen" in Linguistica è storia: scritti in onore di Carlo De Simone (Ricerche sulle lingue di frammentaria attestazione; 2), page 180 of 179-183
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “τοῖος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 1491
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “quī, quae, quod”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 507-508
^ Bakkum, G.C.L.M (2009) The Latin dialect of the Ager Faliscus: 150 years of scholarship‎^[1], →ISBN, pages 133-134
^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) “**kʷākʷo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 173-174
^ Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997) “se”, in Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz [Albanian Etymologies: […]] (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 7)‎^[2] (in German), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi
^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “që ~ qi”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 360

Proto-Indo-European

Etymology

Pronoun

Declension

Determiner

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

References

Further reading