*swé

Reconstruction

Dunkel sets up the reflexive pronominal stem as 1.*sue-, beside 2.*se- and 2.*su-, without gender distinction and singular only.^[1] Fortson writes the reflexive *su̯e-, with a possessive *seu̯-o- or *su̯-o-.^[2] Sihler sets up *se-, with tonic *s-wé and enclitic *se.^[3]

Morphology

Dunkel says that *se- is not an old alternation beside *sue-, but arose from it by dissimilation in derivatives with a labial element.^[4] He parallels its inflection with *me- "me" and the second person pronoun.^[1] Sihler likewise gives it the paradigm of the second person singular, only without a subject form, and notes that in the oldest languages it served for all persons and genders.^[3] The adjectivized pronoun gave the possessive *su-o-, *seu-o-, in Greek ὅς (hós, “one's own”) and Latin suus (“one's own”).^[5]

Evidence

Dunkel cites forms from Indo-Iranian, Greek, Italic, Germanic, Tocharian, Armenian, Baltic and Slavic, with Lydian and Messapic ones.^[6] Matasović adds Celtic.^[7] For Anatolian, Beekes notes that Hittite has the reflexive particle -za, of unclear origin.^[8]

Competing analyses

Beekes's handbook takes *se as the old form, with *su- from the possessive: accusatives in Old Church Slavonic and Latin point to *sē, Gothic to *se, and Greek to *sue.^[8] His Greek dictionary instead follows Petit in holding that PIE had only *su̯e.^[5] Martirosyan writes the stem *seu̯e/o-.^[9]

Meanings

1. self^[1]
2. oneself, as a reflexive pronoun^[1]

Matasović glosses it "self, own".^[7]

Derivatives

• Sanskrit स्वयम् (svayám, “self, of one's own accord”), an adverb.^[6]
• The possessive *su-o- in Sanskrit स्व (svá-, “one's own”) and Ancient Greek ὅς (hós, “one's own”).^[5]
• *sei-no- in Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (seins, “his”).^[10]
• The prefix Proto-Germanic *swe- (“self-”).^[11]
• *su-bʰo- in Old Prussian sups (“self”).^[8]

Reflexes

• Indo-Aryan: Sanskrit स्वयम् (svayám, “self”), as listed by Dunkel.^[6]
• Greek: Ancient Greek ἕ (hé, “oneself”).^[5]
• Italic: Latin sē (“oneself”).^[5]
• Celtic: Old Irish féin (“self”), from *swe-sin.^[7]
• Germanic: Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌺 (sik, “oneself”).^[5]
• Slavic: Old Church Slavonic сѧ (sę, “oneself”).^[5]
• Armenian: Old Armenian իւր (iwr, “his own”).^[9]
• Albanian: Albanian vehte (“self”), through Proto-Albanian *swai-ta.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d Dunkel, George E. (2014), Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme, vol. 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 752
2. ^ Fortson, Benjamin W., IV (2010), Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Malden, MA / Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
3. ^ a b Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, New York: OUP
4. ^ Dunkel, George E. (2014), Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme, vol. 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 754
5. ^ a b c d e f g Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. ἕ, ἑ
6. ^ a b c Dunkel, George E. (2014), Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme, vol. 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 758
7. ^ a b c Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 372
8. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2011), Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction, 2nd ed., revised by Michiel de Vaan, Amsterdam: Benjamins, p. 235
9. ^ a b Martirosyan, Hrach K. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 317
10. ^ Dunkel, George E. (2014), Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme, vol. 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 759
11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 496
12. ^ Orel, Vladimir (1998), Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden / Boston / Köln: Brill, p. s.v. vehte