Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/gʷíh₃weti

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

Etymology

Apparently from the adjective *gʷih₃wós (“alive, living”), ultimately from the root *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”).

However, Gąsiorowski (2006) takes this verb (and thus the root) to be an irregular dissimilation of *gʷígʷwe-, an isolated reduplicating thematic present from a lost *gʷew- (“move”) (?) with an o-grade root noun in *gʷṓws.

Verb

*gʷíh₃weti (imperfective)

1. to live, to be alive

Inflection

Descendants

• Proto-Balto-Slavic: *gīˀwetei
  • Latvian: dzīt, dzīvot
  • Lithuanian: gyventi
  • Old Prussian: gi(j)wan
  • Proto-Slavic: *žiti (see there for further descendants)
• Celtic:
  • Breton: beva
  • Scottish Gaelic: bi
  • Welsh: byw
• Proto-Hellenic: *ďṓwō (< *gʷyṓw-ō < *gʷyéh₃w-oh₂)
  • Ancient Greek: ζώω (zṓō), ζῶ (zô), ζάω (záō)
    • Greek: ζω (zo)
      • Mariupol Greek: зу (zu)
• Proto-Indo-Iranian: *ǰíHwati (see there for further descendants)
• Proto-Italic: *gʷīwō
  • Latin: vīvō (see there for further descendants)
• Tocharian: (from *gwíh₃-ō)
  • Tocharian A: śo-
  • Tocharian B: śai-

References