Proto-Indo-European pronouns have been reconstructed by modern linguists, based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages. This article lists and discusses the hypothesised forms.
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) pronouns, especially demonstrative pronouns, are difficult to reconstruct because of their variety in later languages.
PIE pronouns inflected for case and number, and partly for gender. For more information on these categories, see the article on Proto-Indo-European nominals.
PIE had personal pronouns in the first and second person, but not the third person, where demonstratives were used instead. They were inflected for case and number (singular, dual, and plural), but not for gender. The personal pronouns had their own unique forms and endings, and some had two distinct stems; this is most obvious in the first person singular, where the two stems are still preserved, as for instance in English I and me. There were also two varieties for the accusative, genitive and dative cases, a stressed and an enclitic form. Many of the special pronominal endings were later borrowed as nominal endings.
The following tables give the paradigms as reconstructed by Beekes[1] and by Sihler.[2]
| First person | Second person | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||
| Nominative | *h₁eǵ(oH/Hom) | *uei | *tuH | *iuH | |
| Accusative | stressed | *h₁mé | *nsmé | *tué | *usmé |
| enclitic | *h₁me | *nōs | *te | *uōs | |
| Genitive | stressed | *h₁méne | *ns(er)o- | *teue | *ius(er)o- |
| enclitic | *h₁moi | *nos | *toi | *uos | |
| Dative | stressed | *h₁méǵʰio | *nsmei | *tébʰio | *usmei |
| enclitic | *h₁moi | *ns | *toi | ? | |
| Instrumental | *h₁moí | ? | *toí | ? | |
| Ablative | *h₁med | *nsmed | *tued | *usmed | |
| Locative | *h₁moí | *nsmi | *toí | *usmi | |
| First person | Second person | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
| Nominative | *eǵoH | *weh₁ | *we-i | *tī̆ (*tū̆) | *yuh₁ (*yūh₁?) | *yūs (*yuHs?) | |
| Accusative | tonic | *m-mé (> *mé) | *n̥h₁-wé | *n̥smé | *twé | *uh₁-wé | *usmé |
| enclitic | *me | *nō̆h₁ | *nō̆s | *te | *wō̆h₁ | *wō̆s | |
| Genitive | tonic | *mé-me | *n̥sóm | *té-we | *usóm | ||
| enclitic | *mos (adj.) | *nō̆s | *tos (adj.) | *wō̆s | |||
| Dative | tonic | *mébhi | *n̥sm-éy | *tébhi | *usm-éy | ||
| enclitic | *mey, *moy? | *nō̆s | *tey, *toy | *wō̆s | |||
| Ablative | *mm-ét (> *mét) | *n̥sm-ét | *tw-ét | *usm-ét | |||
Other reconstructions typically differ only slightly from Beekes and Sihler (see for example Fortson 2004[3]).
As for demonstratives, Beekes[4] tentatively reconstructs a system with only two pronouns: *so "this, that" and *h₁e "the (just named)" (anaphoric, reconstructed as *ei- by Fortson[5]). He gives the following paradigms:
| Demonstrative pronouns (Beekes) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | |
| Nominative | *so | *tod | *seh₂ | *toi | *teh₂ | *seh₂i?? |
| Accusative | *tóm | *teh₂m | *tons | *teh₂ns | ||
| Genitive | *(to)sio | *(t)eseh₂s | *tesom? | *tesom? | ||
| Ablative | *tosmōd | *toios? | ||||
| Dative | *tosmōi | *tesieh₂ei | *toimus | *teh₂mus? | ||
| Locative | *tosmi | *tesieh₂i | *toisu | *teh₂su? | ||
| Instrumental | *toi? | *toi? | *toibʰi | *teh₂bʰi? | ||
| Nominative | *h₁e | *(h₁)id | *(h₁)ih₂ | *h₁ei | *ih₂ | *ih₂es |
| Accusative | *im | *ih₂m | *ins | *ih₂ns | ||
| Genitive | *h₁éso | *h₁eseh₂s? | *h₁es(om) | |||
| Ablative | *h₁esmōd | *h₁eios? | ||||
| Dative | *h₁esmōi | *h₁esieh₂ei | *h₁eimus | |||
| Locative | *h₁esmi | *h₁esieh₂i | *h₁eisu | |||
| Instrumental | *h₁ei? | *h₁eibʰi | ||||
Beekes also postulates three adverbial particles, from which demonstratives were constructed in various later languages:
| Demonstrative pronouns (Sihler) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||||
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | |
| Nominative | *so | *tod | *seh₂, *sih₂ | *toy | *teh₂ | *teh₂s |
| Accusative | *tom | *teh₂m | *toms | *teh₂ms | ||
| Genitive | *tosyo | *tosyeh₂s | *toysō̆m | *teh₂sō̆m | ||
| Ablative | *tosmōd | *tosyeh₂s | *toybʰ- | *teh₂bʰ- | ||
| Dative | *tosmey | *tosyeh₂ey | *toybʰ- | *teh₂bʰ- | ||
| Locative | *tosmi | ? | *toysu | *teh₂su | ||
| Instrumental | ? | ? | ? | ? | ||
| Nominative | *is | *id | *ih₂ | *eyes | *ih₂ | *ih₂es |
| Accusative | *im | *ih₂m | *ins | *ih₂ms | ||
| Genitive | *esyo | *esyeh₂s | *eysom | |||
| Ablative | *esmod | *esyeh₂s | *eybʰ- | |||
| Dative | *esmey | *esyeh₂ey | *eybʰ- | |||
| Locative | *esmi | ? | *eysu | |||
| Instrumental | ? | ? | ||||
A third-person reflexive pronoun *s(w)e-, parallel to the first and second person singular personal pronouns, also existed, though it lacked a nominative form:
| Reflexive pronoun (Beekes)[6] | |
|---|---|
| Accusative | *se |
| Genitive | *seue, *sei |
| Dative | *sebʰio, *soi |
PIE had a relative pronoun with the stem *(H)yo-.[7]
There was also a pronoun with the stem *kʷe- / *kʷi- (adjectival *kʷo-) used both as an interrogative and an indefinite pronoun.[5][8]
| Pronominal | Adjectival | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Masc./Fem. | Neuter | Masc./Fem. | Neuter | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | ||
| Nominative | *kʷis | *kʷid | *kʷeyes | *kʷih₂ | *kʷos | *kʷod | *kʷeh₂ | *kʷoy | *kʷeh₂ | *kʷeh₂(e)s | |
| Accusative | *kʷim | *kʷims | *kʷom | *kʷeh₂m | *kʷoms | *kʷeh₂ms | |||||
| Dative | *kʷesmey | *kʷeybh- | *kʷosmey | ? | ? | ||||||
| Genitive | *kʷesyo | *kʷeysom | *kʷosyo | ? | ? | ||||||
| Locative | *kʷesmi | *kʷeysu | ? | ? | ? | ||||||
Proto-Indo-European possessed few adjectives that had a distinct set of endings, identical to those of the demonstrative pronoun above but differing from those of regular adjectives.[10] They included at least *ályos "other, another"[5] (or *h₂élyos?).
Reflexes, or descendants of the PIE reconstructed forms in its daughter languages, include the following.
| Type | Reconstruction | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. nom. | *eǵoH | Hitt. ūk, Ved. ahám, Av. azəm, Gk. ἐγω(ν), Lat. ego, Goth. ik,[11]
Eng. I, Gm. ich, Du. ik, Alb. u-në, Bulg. аз\az, Russ. я\ja, Kamviri õc, Carian uk, Osset. æz/æz, Umb. eho, ON ek, Lith. aš, Venet. ego[citation needed] |
| 1st sg. oblique | *me | Ved. mām, Av. mąm, Gk. ἐμέ, Lat. mē,[11]
Eng. mec/me, Gm. mih/mich, Du. mij, Osset./Pers. mæn, Umb. mehe, Ir. mé, Welsh mi, Russ. mne, Alb. mua, Venet. mego[citation needed] |
| 1st pl. nom. | *we-i | Hitt. wēš, Ved. vayám, Av. vaēm, Goth. wit (dual), weis, Toch. was/wes,[11]
Pers. vayam/?, ON vér, Lith. vedu[citation needed] |
| 1st pl. oblique | *nō̆s | Hitt. anzāš, Gk. νώ (dual), Lat. nōs, Goth. uns, Toch. ñäś (sg.),[11]
Skr. nas, Av. nō, Pers. amaxām/?, ON oss, okkr, Old Ir. ni, Welsh ni, OPruss. noūson, Lith. nuodu, Pol., Russ. nas, Alb. ne[citation needed] |
| 2nd sg. | *tī̆ (*tū̆) / *te | Hitt. zīk, Ved. tvám, Av. tū, Gk. σύ, Doric τύ, Lat. tū, Goth. þu, Toch. tu/tuwe, OCS ty[12]
Pers. tuva/to, Osset. dy, Kashmiri tsū', Kamviri tü, Umb. tu, tui, Osc. tuvai, ON þú, Ir. tú/thú, Welsh ti, Arm. tu/du, OPruss. toū, Pol. ty, Russ. ty, Lith. tu, Ltv. tu, Alb. ti[citation needed] |
| 2nd pl. nom. | *yū(H)s | Ved. yūyám, Av. yūš, Gk. ὑμεῖς, Goth. jūs, Toch. yas/yes,[12]
Eng. gē/ye; ēow/you, Gm. ir/ihr, Du. jij / gij, ON ykkr, yðr, Arm. dzez/dzez/cez, OPruss. ioūs, Lith. jūs, Ltv. jūs, Alb. juve, ju[citation needed] |
| 2nd pl. oblique | *wō̆s | Lat. vōs,[12]
Skr. vas, Av. vō, Umb. uestra, OPruss. wans, Pol. wy, was, Russ. vy, vas,[citation needed] Alb. u |
| Demonstrative ("this, that") | *so (m), *se-h₂ (f), *to-d (n) | Ved. sá, sā, tád, Av. hō, hā, tat̰, Gk. ὁ, ἡ, τό, Goth. sa, so, þata, Icel. sá, sú, það, TochB. se, sā, te[5]
Old Eng. se, seo, thæt, Russ. tot, ta, to[citation needed] |
| Demonstrative ("the just named; this") | *h₁e / *ei- | Ved. ay-ám, id-ám, Av. īm "him", Lat. is, ea, id, Alb. aì (he, that), ajò (she, that), Goth. is "he"[5]
Skr. it[citation needed] |
| Demonstrative / adverbial particle | *ḱi(-) | Lat. cis, Eng. he, Gm. heute "on this day, today", OCS sĭ, Lith. šìs,[5]
ON hér, Goth. hita, Eng. it, Gm. hier, Russ. sije[citation needed] |
| Reflexive | *s(w)e- | Ved. sva-yám, Av. xᵛāi, Gk. ἑ-, Lat. sē, sibi, suus, Old Ir. fa(-dessin), Ir. féin, OCS sę,[5]
Gm. sih/sich, sin/sein, Du. zich, zijn Carian sfes, Lyd. śfa-, Osc. sífeí, Umb. seso, ON sik, sinn, Goth. sik, Arm. ink῾s, OPruss. sien, sin, Lith. savo, Latv. sevi, Russ. sebe, -sja, Alb. vetë, u, Phryg. ve[citation needed] |
| Relative | *(H)yo- | Ved. yá-, Av. ya-, Gk. ὅ-, Proto-Celtic *yo-[5] |
| Interrogative pronoun | *kʷi-s (m, f), *kʷi-d (n) | Hitt. kuiš, Luw. kuiš, Gk. τίς, Lat. quis, quid, Ir. cia, Eng. hwī/–, OCS čĭto[5]
Lyc. tike, Lyd. qi-, Osset. či, Pers. čiy/ki, Osc. pisi, Umb. púí, svepis, ON hverr, Welsh pwi,[citation needed] Russ. kto, čto, Alb. çë |
| Interrogative adjective | *kʷo-s (m), *kʷe-h₂ (f), *kʷo-d (n) | Ved. kás, Av. kō, Gk. ποῦ "where?", pōs "somehow", Goth. ƕas, Lith. kàs, OCS kŭto[5]
Eng. hwā/who; hwæt/what, Gm. hwër/wer, Du. wie / wat, Carian kuo, Kashmiri kus, Kamviri kâča, Lat. qui, quae, quod; Arm. ov, inč῾, Toch. kus/kŭse, Ltv. kas, Pol. kto, Russ. kto, Alb. ku, kush, Phryg. kos[citation needed] |
| "(an)other" | *alyo- | Gk. ἄλλος, Lat. alius, Goth. aljis, Ir. ail/eile, Toch. ālak/alyek,[5]
Gm. eli-lenti "in another land, expelled" / elend "miserable, wretched",[13] Eng. elles/else, Lyd. aλaś, Skr. araṇa, Osc. allo, ON elligar, Gaul. alla, Arm. ayl[citation needed] |
In the following languages, two reflexes separated by a slash mean:
