Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/médʰu

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

Possibly related to Proto-Semitic *matḳ- (“sweet”),^[1] one suggestion is a borrowing through Proto-Northeast Caucasian *miʒʒV (“sweet”).^[2]^[3]

Noun

*médʰu n^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

honey
Synonyms: *kn̥h₂ónks, *mélit
honey wine, mead

Inflection

Athematic, proterokinetic
	singular
nominative	*médʰu
genitive	*m̥dʰéws
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*médʰu	*médʰwih₁	*médʰuh₂
vocative	*médʰu	*médʰwih₁	*médʰuh₂
accusative	*médʰu	*médʰwih₁	*médʰuh₂
genitive	*m̥dʰéws	*?	*m̥dʰéwoHom
ablative	*m̥dʰéws	*?	m̥dʰúmos, m̥dʰúbʰos
dative	*m̥dʰéwey	*?	m̥dʰúmos, m̥dʰúbʰos
locative	m̥dʰéw, m̥dʰéwi	*?	*m̥dʰúsu
instrumental	*m̥dʰúh₁	*?	m̥dʰúmis, m̥dʰúbʰis

Derived terms

>? Proto-Indo-European: *medʰu-h₁éd-^[8]^[9]
- Proto-Balto-Slavic: *medwḗˀdis (from an earlier *médu-ēˀd-is)
  - Proto-Slavic: *medvědь (“bear”)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *madʰuHád
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *madʰuHád
    - Sanskrit: मध्वद् (madhvád, “honey-eater”)
>? *medʰw-o-s
- Proto-Celtic: *medwos
  - Middle Irish: medb, Medb
    - → English: Maeve
  - Welsh: meddw
>? *mḗdʰu-^[10] or *módʰu-^[11] (or borrowed from Sogdian 𐼺𐼴𐼹 (mwδ /⁠muδ⁠/)^[10])
- Proto-Tocharian:
  - Tocharian B: mot (“alcohol”)

Descendants

Proto-Anatolian: *médu
- >? Hittite: 𒃻𒆸𒊏𒆯𒆯 (^NINDAKUR₄.RA KU₇-KU₇ /⁠mitgaimi-⁠/, “sweet bread”) (more likely borrowed from a Semitic source)^[12]
  - → Akkadian: 𒃻𒈬𒌓𒆪𒌑 (mutqûm, “sweet bread”) (possibly^[13])
- >? Luwian: 𒈪𒀉𒂵𒄿𒈪 (mi-it-ga-i-mi /⁠mitgaimi-⁠/, “sweet(ened)”)
- Luwian: (“wine”)
  Cuneiform script: 𒈠𒀜𒁺 (ma-ad-du /⁠máddu⁠/)
  
  Anatolian hieroglyphic script: 𔒅𔕬𔑷 (ma-tú-sà), 𔒅𔑢𔑷 (ma-tu-sà /⁠máddu-sa⁠/)
>? Proto-Armenian: *melu̍β̞i^[14] (< instr.pl. *medʰubʰi)
- Old Armenian: մեղու (mełu)
Proto-Balto-Slavic: *médu (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Celtic: *medu (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Germanic: *meduz (see there for further descendants)
- →? Hunnic: μέδος (médos, “beverage akin to mead”)
Proto-Hellenic: *métʰu (see there for further descendants)
Proto-Indo-Iranian: *mádʰu
- Proto-Indo-Aryan: *mádʰu (“honey”)
  - Sanskrit: मधु (mádhu) (see there for further descendants)
- Proto-Iranian: *mádu (see there for further descendants)
  - →? Proto-Turkic: *bạl^[15]^[16]^[17]
- → Proto-Northeast Caucasian: *mHädwV (“type of beverage; liquor”)^[18]
Proto-Tocharian: *ḿətə^[19]
- Tocharian B: mīt
- → Late Old Chinese: 蜜 (mit)^[20] (see there for further descendants)
  - → Old Uyghur: 𐽹𐽶𐽾 (mir)^[15]^[17]
- → Proto-Uralic: *mete^[21] (see there for further descendants)
→ Etruscan: 𐌌𐌀𐌈𐌂𐌅𐌀 (maθcva, “(honeyed) wine, sweet wine”)

References

^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world, Oxford University Press, pages 82-83: “Proto-Semitic *mVtk- ‘sweet’” ... "The correspondences between Indo-European and Semitic are generally explained as flowing from Semitic into Indo-European at the level of the Indo-European proto-language itself."
^ Bjørn, Rasmus (2017) Foreign elements in the Proto-Indo-European vocabulary. A comparative loanword study‎^[1], Master's thesis, University of Copenhagen, page 95
^ Nikolaev, Sergei L., Starostin, Sergei A. (1994) “*mĭʒ_V”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary‎^[2], Moscow: Asterisk Publishers
^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “707”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 707
^ Wodtko, Dagmar S., Irslinger, Britta, Schneider, Carolin (2008) Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 467
^ Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors ((Can we date this quote?)), Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, pages 2235, 2275
^ Kapović, Mate (2017) “Part 1 Chapter 1: Proto-Indo-European phonology”, in Kapović, Mate, editor, The Indo-European Languages (Routledge Language Family Series), 2nd edition, London, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 31: “PIE *medʰu ‘mead’”
^ Langston, Keith (2017–2018) “Chapter XIII: Slavic”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The morphology of Slavic, page 1540
^ Dunkel, George E. (2014) Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, page 603
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “mot”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 511: “*mēdʰu-”
^ Hackstein, Olav (2017–2018) “Chapter XII: Tocharian”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The phonology of Tocharian, page 1321
^ Puhvel, Jaan (2004) Hittite Etymological Dictionary (Trends in linguistics. Documentation; 22), volume 6, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pages 168-169
^ Rabin, Chaim (1963) “Hittite Words in Hebrew”, in Orientalia, volume 32, number 2, →DOI, page 130
^ Macak, Martin (2017–2018) “Chapter X: Armenian”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The phonology of Classical Armenian, page 1041
↑ ^15.0 ^15.1 Clauson, Gerard (1972) “ba:l, mır”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pages 330, 771
^ Räsänen, Martti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen (in German), Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, page 59
↑ ^17.0 ^17.1 Witzel, Michael (2003) Linguistic Evidence for Cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia (Sino-Platonic Papers; 129)‎^[3], Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, page 13
^ Starostin, S. A. (2007) “Indo-European among other language families: problems of dating, contacts and genetic relationships”, in Starostin, G. S., editor, Trudy po jazykoznaniju [Proceedings in Linguistics]‎^[4] (in Russian), Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kulʹtur, →ISBN, page 818: “...or *mHädwV ʽa k. of beverage, liquorʼ”
^ Ringe, D. A., Jr. (1988–1990) “Evidence for the position of Tocharian in the Indo-European family?”, in Die Sprache, volume 34, Vienna: Universität Wien, page 114: “PT *ḿə́tə ‘honey’”
^ Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN
^ Joki, Aulis J. (1973) Uralier und Indogermanen [Uralians and Indo-Europeans] (Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia; 151) (in German), Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, →ISBN

[TOitPIEatPIEw-1] Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European world, Oxford University Press, pages 82-83: “Proto-Semitic *mVtk- ‘sweet’” ... "The correspondences between Indo-European and Semitic are generally explained as flowing from Semitic into Indo-European at the level of the Indo-European proto-language itself."

[2] Bjørn, Rasmus (2017) Foreign elements in the Proto-Indo-European vocabulary. A comparative loanword study‎^[1], Master's thesis, University of Copenhagen, page 95

[3] Nikolaev, Sergei L., Starostin, Sergei A. (1994) “*mĭʒ_V”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary‎^[2], Moscow: Asterisk Publishers

[4] Pokorny, Julius (1959) “707”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 707

[5] Wodtko, Dagmar S., Irslinger, Britta, Schneider, Carolin (2008) Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon [Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon] (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, page 467

[6] Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors ((Can we date this quote?)), Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, pages 2235, 2275

[7] Kapović, Mate (2017) “Part 1 Chapter 1: Proto-Indo-European phonology”, in Kapović, Mate, editor, The Indo-European Languages (Routledge Language Family Series), 2nd edition, London, New York: Routledge, →ISBN, page 31: “PIE *medʰu ‘mead’”

[8] Langston, Keith (2017–2018) “Chapter XIII: Slavic”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The morphology of Slavic, page 1540

[9] Dunkel, George E. (2014) Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, page 603

[Adams-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “mot”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 511: “*mēdʰu-”

[11] Hackstein, Olav (2017–2018) “Chapter XII: Tocharian”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The phonology of Tocharian, page 1321

[12] Puhvel, Jaan (2004) Hittite Etymological Dictionary (Trends in linguistics. Documentation; 22), volume 6, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pages 168-169

[13] Rabin, Chaim (1963) “Hittite Words in Hebrew”, in Orientalia, volume 32, number 2, →DOI, page 130

[14] Macak, Martin (2017–2018) “Chapter X: Armenian”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The phonology of Classical Armenian, page 1041

[clauson-15] 15.0 ^15.1 Clauson, Gerard (1972) “ba:l, mır”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pages 330, 771

[16] Räsänen, Martti (1969) Versuch eines etymologischen Wörterbuchs der Türksprachen (in German), Helsinki: Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, page 59

[Witzel-17] 17.0 ^17.1 Witzel, Michael (2003) Linguistic Evidence for Cultural Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia (Sino-Platonic Papers; 129)‎^[3], Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, page 13

[18] Starostin, S. A. (2007) “Indo-European among other language families: problems of dating, contacts and genetic relationships”, in Starostin, G. S., editor, Trudy po jazykoznaniju [Proceedings in Linguistics]‎^[4] (in Russian), Moscow: Jazyki slavjanskix kulʹtur, →ISBN, page 818: “...or *mHädwV ʽa k. of beverage, liquorʼ”

[19] Ringe, D. A., Jr. (1988–1990) “Evidence for the position of Tocharian in the Indo-European family?”, in Die Sprache, volume 34, Vienna: Universität Wien, page 114: “PT *ḿə́tə ‘honey’”

[20] Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN

[21] Joki, Aulis J. (1973) Uralier und Indogermanen [Uralians and Indo-Europeans] (Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia; 151) (in German), Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, →ISBN

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