Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷís

ThisProto-Indo-Europeanentry containsreconstructed terms and roots.As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directlyattested,but are hypothesized to have existed based oncomparativeevidence.

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-,ano-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. Ultimately from*kʷ-.

Pronoun

*kʷís

1. who,what(interrogative)
2. who,which,that(relative)

Declension

Andrew Sihler's reconstruction
	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
	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
	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

1. which,what

Declension

Andrew Sihler's reconstruction
	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
	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
  • Proto-Albanian:
    • >?Albanian:sa(“how much”)
  • Proto-Hellenic:
    • Ancient Greek:σᾰ́(sá,“what?”)
  • Proto-Italic:*kʷiā
    • Latin:quia(“because”)(see there for further descendants)
• *kʷo-tero-
• *kʷo-s-yo-
  • Proto-Hellenic:*kʷoyyos
    • Ancient Greek:ποῖος(poîos)-ποιός(poiós)
  • Proto-Italic:*kʷojjos
    • Old Latin:quoius
      • Latin:cuius
• *kʷo-ti
  • Proto-Italic:*kʷot
    • Latin:quot
  • Sanskrit:कति(kati)
• *kʷo-ty-o
  • Proto-Hellenic:*kʷotsos
    • Ancient Greek:πόσος(pósos)-ποσός(posós)
• *kʷo-m
  • Proto-Germanic:*hwan(“at what time, when”)(see there for further descendants)
• *kʷo-bʰí
  • Proto-Anatolian:*kʷobí
    • Hittite:𒆪𒉿𒁉(ku-wa-pí)
  • >?Proto-Italic:*kʷuβei(alternatively*kʷuðei< *kʷu-dʰe-í)
    • Latin:ubi,ne-cubi,ali-cubi
    • Oscan:𐌐𐌖𐌚(puf)
    • Umbrian:𐌐𐌖𐌚𐌄(pufe)
• *kʷós-tos
  • Proto-Hellenic:*kʷóstos
    • Ancient Greek:πόστος(póstos)
• *kʷeh₂-kʷo-s
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic:*kāˀkas
    • Lithuanian:kóks
    • Proto-Slavic:*kakъ(see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Celtic:*kʷākʷos(see there for further descendants)

Descendants

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

CategoryTerms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *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)-ποι(poi),πῇ(pêi)-πῃ(pēi),πῶς(pôs)-πως(pōs),πότε(póte)-ποτέ(poté),πόθεν(póthen),ὅστις(hóstis),ἄσσα(ássa),ἕκαστος(hékastos),ποδαπός(podapós),πηλίκος(pēlíkos),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”),kû(“where”),ku(“what”)(dialectal Hekari),kîjan(“which”)
    • Persian:که(ke),چه(če),چی(či)
    • 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,quia,cum,quam,cūr,ubī,cūius(< *kʷosyo),quoque,quālis,ut,unde
• Phrygian:κιν(kin)
• Proto-Tocharian:*kuse(from*kʷisó<*kʷís)
  • Tocharian A:kus
  • Tocharian B:kᵤse
• From instrumental singular*kʷéy:
  • Proto-Albanian:*tśei?
    • Albanian:se
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic:*kei
    • Proto-Slavic:*či(see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Germanic:*hwī(see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Italic:*kʷei
    • Latin:quei>quī(see there for further descendants)
• From instrumental singular*kʷóy:
  • Proto-Albanian:*kai
    • >?Albanian:që
  • Proto-Italic:*kʷoi(see there for further descendants)