< Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European

Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₁widʰéwh₂

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 derivative of the root *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate”), given that widows are irreversibly separated from their husbands.

Noun

*h₁widʰéwh₂ f[1]

  1. widow

Inflection
Athematic, proterokinetic
singular
nominative *h₁widʰéwh₂s
genitive *h₁widʰwéh₂s
singular dual plural
nominative *h₁widʰéwh₂s *h₁widʰéwh₂h₁(e) *h₁widʰéwh₂es
vocative *h₁widʰéwh₂ *h₁widʰéwh₂h₁(e) *h₁widʰéwh₂es
accusative *h₁widʰéwh₂m̥ *h₁widʰéwh₂h₁(e) *h₁widʰéwh₂m̥s
genitive *h₁widʰwéh₂s *? *h₁widʰwéh₂oHom
ablative *h₁widʰwéh₂s *? *h₁widʰwéh₂mos
dative *h₁widʰwéh₂ey *? *h₁widʰwéh₂mos
locative *h₁widʰwéh₂, *h₁widʰwéh₂i *? *h₁widʰwéh₂su
instrumental *h₁widʰwéh₂h₁ *? *h₁widʰwéh₂mis

Alternative reconstructions
  • *h₁widʰéweh₂

Reconstruction notes

De Vaan disputes the existence of this word as a feminine noun in PIE, as the Latin and Greek forms point to a thematic adjective *h₁widʰ(h₁)éwos which could be substantivized for people of either gender.[2]

Descendants
  • Proto-Albanian: *widewā
    • Old Albanian: vejë
      • Albanian: ve
  • Proto-Balto-Slavic: *widewāˀ
    • Old Prussian: widdewū
    • Proto-Slavic: *vьdova (see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Celtic: *widwā (see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Germanic: *widuwǭ f (see there for further descendants); *widuwô m
  • Proto-Hellenic: *ewítʰewos m; *ewitʰéwā f
    • Aeolic Greek: ἠΐθεος m (ēḯtheos); ἠϊθέη f (ēïthéē)
    • Attic–Ionic Greek: ἠΐθεος (ēḯtheos), ᾔθεος (ḗitheos)
    • Doric Greek: ᾄθεος (ā́itheos, hyperdoricism)
  • Proto-Indo-Iranian: *HwidʰáwaH (see there for further descendants)
  • Proto-Italic: *wiðowos (“unmarried”, adjective);[2] *wiðowā f
    • Latin: viduus; vidua (see there for further descendants)

References
  1. Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
  2. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “viduus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 676–677: “Latin and Greek show a them[atic] adj[ective] used for both sexes […] it is unlikely that the f[eminine] noun was original, and adjectivized without any suffix in Latin and Greek. I therefore assume the primacy of the o-stem adj[ective] in PIE.”
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