< Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European

Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂éyos

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

Alternative reconstructions

Noun

*h₂éyos n[2][3][4]

  1. a metal, copper, bronze

Usage notes

This is the only word in Proto-Indo-European that unequivocally refers to a metal. There is no word for iron and the words for gold and silver seem to mean “that which shines”, or “the golden” and “the silvery”, respectively. In the early Indo-European languages, this word refers to copper (and bronze), and the Proto-Indo-European word refers with absolute certainty to one of these metals, or both. This shows that the Indo-European language was spoken during a time when copper was used.

Inflection
Athematic, acrostatic
singular
nominative *h₂éyos
genitive *h₂éyesos
singular dual plural
nominative *h₂éyos *h₂éyesih₁ *h₂éyōs
vocative *h₂éyos *h₂éyesih₁ *h₂éyōs
accusative *h₂éyos *h₂éyesih₁ *h₂éyōs
genitive *h₂éyesos *? *h₂éyesoHom
ablative *h₂éyesos *? *h₂éyesmos
dative *h₂éyesey *? *h₂éyesmos
locative *h₂éyes, *h₂éyesi *? *h₂éyesu
instrumental *h₂éyesh₁ *? *h₂éyesmis

Derived terms
  • *h₂éyesnos
    • Proto-Italic: *aeznos

Descendants
  • Proto-Germanic: *aiz (see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Indo-Iranian: *Háyas (see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Italic: *aos

References
  1. Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
  2. Wikander, Ola (2008) Ett träd med vida grenar: de indoeuropeiska språkens historia (in Swedish), Stockholm: Prisma, →ISBN
  3. Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
  4. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
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