Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/kʷís

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

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-, an o-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 *kʷís and *kʷós, as they were usually confused and merged together to various degrees.

Category Terms 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)