Indo-European vocabulary

The following is a table of many of the most fundamental Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) words and roots, with their cognates in all of the major families of descendants.

Notes

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The following conventions are used:

  • Cognates are in general given in the oldest well-documented language of each family, although forms in modern languages are given for families in which the older stages of the languages are poorly documented or do not differ significantly from the modern languages. In addition, modern English forms are given for comparison purposes.
  • Nouns are given in their nominative case, with the genitive case supplied in parentheses when its stem differs from that of the nominative. (For some languages, especially Sanskrit, the basic stem is given in place of the nominative.)
  • Verbs are given in their "dictionary form". The exact form given depends on the specific language:
  • In place of Latin, an Oscan or Umbrian cognate is occasionally given when no corresponding Latin cognate exists. Similarly, a cognate from another Anatolian language (e.g. Luvian, Lycian) may occasionally be given in place of or in addition to Hittite.
  • For Tocharian, both the Tocharian A and Tocharian B cognates are given whenever possible.
  • For the Celtic languages, both Old Irish and Welsh cognates are given when possible. For Welsh, normally the modern form is given, but occasionally the form from Old Welsh is supplied when it is known and displays important features lost in the modern form. A Middle Irish cognate is given when the Old Irish form is unknown, and Gaulish, Cornish and/or Breton (modern) cognates may occasionally be given in place of or in addition to Welsh.
  • For the Baltic languages, Lithuanian (modern) and Old Prussian cognates are given when possible. (Both Lithuanian and Old Prussian are included because Lithuanian often includes information missing in Old Prussian, e.g. due to lack of written accent marks in the latter.) Similarly to the Celtic situation, Old Lithuanian forms may occasionally be given in place of modern Lithuanian; Latvian (modern) may occasionally be given in place of or in addition to Lithuanian.
  • For the Slavic languages, Old Church Slavonic cognates are given when possible. Forms from modern Slavic languages or other Church Slavic dialects may occasionally be given in place of Old Church Slavonic.
  • For English, a modern English cognate is given when it exists, along with the corresponding Old English form; otherwise, only an Old English form is given.
  • For Gothic, a form in another Germanic language (Old Norse; Old High German; or Middle High German) is sometimes given in its place or in addition, when it reveals important features.

Kinship

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People

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Pronouns and particles

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Numbers

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Body

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Animals

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Food and farming

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Bodily functions and states

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Mental functions and states

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General conditions and states

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Natural features

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Directions

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Basic adjectives

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Light and color

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Positive qualities

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Construction, fabrication

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Self-motion, rest

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Object motion

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