Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/márkos

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

Reconstruction

The reconstruction at the PIE level is disputed on several grounds:

• limited geographical distribution in Western IE - only present in the Celtic and Germanic branches.
• the presence of rare/disputed PIE phoneme */a/; a reconstruction *mh₂érkos seems untenable.

One theory which does not accept the existence of this PIE word sees the Germanic forms as a borrowing from the Celtic, and those as a loan from Proto-Iranian *márikah (compare Old Persian [script needed] (marika, “male, manly”)), from *máryah (compare Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (maⁱriia, “man; male animal”)); akin to Sanskrit मर्य (márya, “young man; stallion”). If the PIE word did exist, it is probably a Wanderwort across Eurasian languages; see Proto-Sino-Tibetan *k-m-raŋ ~ s-raŋ for more.

Noun

*márkos m (non-ablauting)

1. horse (Equus ferus caballus)
2. (possibly) wild horse (Equus ferus przewalskii or Equus ferus ferus)

Usage notes

Possibly denoting only a "wild horse" as opposed to the *h₁éḱwos (“domestic horse”).

Inflection

Thematic
	singular
nominative	*márkos
genitive	*márkosyo
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*márkos	*márkoh₁	*márkoes
vocative	*márke	*márkoh₁	*márkoes
accusative	*márkom	*márkoh₁	*márkoms
genitive	*márkosyo	*?	*márkoHom
ablative	*márkead	*?	*márkomos, *márkobʰos
dative	*márkoey	*?	*márkomos, *márkobʰos
locative	*márkey, *márkoy	*?	*márkoysu
instrumental	*márkoh₁	*?	*márkōys

Synonyms

• *h₁éḱwos
• *ǵʰéyos
• *mendyos

Derived terms

• *márkih₂

Descendants

• Proto-Celtic: *markos (see there for further descendants)
• Proto-Germanic: *marhaz (see there for further descendants)

References

• Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 274