"Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family."
The reconstructed ancestor of many modern Indo-European languages.
Indo-European languages: A family of languages that includes over 400 languages and dialects spoken across Europe, western and southern Asia, and parts of central and South Asia.
Reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European: A method of reconstructing the language spoken by the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) people based on the similarities of words and grammar structures in its descendant languages.
History of PIE: A brief overview of the archaeological, linguistic, and cultural evidence surrounding the PIE people, their migration patterns, and social structures.
PIE phonology: The system of sounds present in the PIE language, including its consonants, vowels, and accent system.
PIE grammar: The structure and rules governing the formation of words, sentences, and clauses in the PIE language, including cases, verbs, conjugations, and declensions.
PIE vocabulary: The lexicon of the PIE language, including common nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions.
Comparative linguistics: The study of how languages are related to each other by examining their similarities and differences on multiple levels, such as phonology, grammar, and vocabulary.
Linguistic reconstruction: The process of reconstructing a hypothetical ancestor language based on the linguistic evidence found in its descendants.
PIE society and culture: An understanding of how the PIE people lived, their religious beliefs, social customs, and daily routines, and how they shaped and were shaped by their language.
Historical linguistics: An exploration of the evolution of languages over time, including sound changes, shifts in meaning, and changes in grammar and syntax.
Proto-languages: An introduction to the concept and characteristics of proto-languages and how they can be reconstructed.
PIE syntax: The arrangement of words and phrases to form sentences in the PIE language.
PIE etymology: The study of the origin and history of words in the PIE language and how they changed through time to become the words in the descendant languages.
The decipherment and interpretation of ancient scripts and inscriptions in the PIE language, such as the Linear B and Hittite texts.: The topic explores the process of decoding and understanding ancient texts and inscriptions written in the Proto-Indo-European language, specifically focusing on scripts like Linear B and Hittite texts.
The Neuropsychology of Language: An investigation of the neurological basis of language comprehension and production, and how it relates to PIE and its descendants.
"No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages."
"Far more work has gone into reconstructing PIE than any other proto-language, and it is the best understood of all proto-languages of its age."
"Many of the modern techniques of linguistic reconstruction (such as the comparative method) were developed as a result."
"PIE is hypothesized to have been spoken as a single language from approximately 4500 BCE to 2500 BCE during the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age."
"According to the prevailing Kurgan hypothesis, the original homeland of the Proto-Indo-Europeans may have been in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Europe."
"As speakers of Proto-Indo-European became isolated from each other through the Indo-European migrations, the regional dialects of Proto-Indo-European spoken by the various groups diverged."
"Each dialect underwent shifts in pronunciation (the Indo-European sound laws), morphology, and vocabulary."
"Today, the descendant languages of PIE with the most native speakers are Spanish, English, Portuguese, Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu), Bengali, Russian, Punjabi, German, Persian, French, Marathi, Italian, and Gujarati."
"PIE is believed to have had an elaborate system of morphology that included inflectional suffixes (analogous to English child, child's, children, children's)."
"PIE nominals and pronouns had a complex system of declension, and verbs similarly had a complex system of conjugation."
"The PIE phonology, particles, numerals, and copula are also well-reconstructed."
"Asterisks are used as a conventional mark of reconstructed words, such as *wódr̥, *ḱwn̥tós, or *tréyes."
"The linguistic reconstruction of PIE has provided insight into the pastoral culture and patriarchal religion of its speakers."
"Over many centuries, these dialects transformed into the known ancient Indo-European languages."
"The majority of linguistic work during the 19th century was devoted to the reconstruction of PIE or its daughter languages."
"Many of the modern techniques of linguistic reconstruction (such as the comparative method) were developed as a result."
"Estimates vary by more than a thousand years."
"The linguistic reconstruction of PIE has provided insight into the pastoral culture and patriarchal religion of its speakers."
"These forms are the reconstructed ancestors of the modern English words water, hound, and three, respectively."