Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/yem-

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

Root

*yem-^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

to hold, restrain
to take, seize

Derived terms

Terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *yem- (10 c, 0 e)

*yém-t ~ *im-ént (root aorist)^[1] (sometimes reconstructed as 'Narten aorist' *yḗm-t ~ *yém-n̥t,^[2] but this is controversial^[5])
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *Há-yam-t (with full grade as weak stem to clarify root)
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan:
    - Sanskrit: अयमुर् (ayamur, 3pl.aor.ind.), यमति (yámati, 3sg.aor.subj.)
    - ⇒ Sanskrit: अयान् (ayān, 3sg.aor.ind.), अयांसम् (áyāṃsam, 1sg.aor.ind.) (s-aorist)
  - Proto-Iranian:
    - ⇒ Old Avestan: 𐬀𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬧𐬙𐬁 (apaiiaṇtā, “to take away”, 3sg.aor.inj.med.) (+ *Hapa- (“off, away, from”))
    - ⇒ Old Avestan: 𐬵𐬇𐬨𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬧𐬙𐬏 (hə̄miiaṇtū, “to attend to”, 3sg.aor.impv.act.) (+ *ham- (“together, one”))
- >? Proto-Tocharian: (possibly from *yew-e/o-, irregularly developed from aor.subj. *yem-e/o-^[2])
  - Tocharian A: ypa- ~ ya- (“to do, make”, present stem)
*ym̥-sḱ-éti (sḱe-present)^[1]
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *yasćáti^[6]
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *yaćśati
    - Sanskrit: यच्छति (yácchati)
  - Proto-Iranian: *yascáti (see there for further descendants)
? *yem-néH-ti (neH-present)
- Proto-Tocharian: *yämnā- (“to achieve”)^[7] (with -n- possibly secondary^[8]; or from *h₁em-^[9])
  - Tocharian A: yomnāṣ (3sg.subj.)
  - Tocharian B: yanmacer (2pl.subj.)
*ye-yóm-e ~ *ye-ym-ḗr (reduplicated perfect)^[1]
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *́yayā́ma
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *yayā́ma
    - Sanskrit: ययन्थ (yayantha, 2sg.act.)
- >? Proto-Tocharian:^[2]
  - Tocharian A: yām- (“to do, make”)
  - Tocharian B: yām- (“to do, make”)
*yom-éye-ti (eye-causative)^[1]
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *yāmáyati
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *yāmáyati
    - Sanskrit: यामयति (yāmáyati)
  - Proto-Iranian: *yāmáyati^[2]^[6] (see there for further descendants)
*yém-tro-m
- Proto-Indo-Iranian:
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan:
    - Sanskrit: यन्त्र n (yantrá, “fastening”) (see there for further descendants)
*yém-o-s
- Proto-Albanian: *jama^[10]
  - Albanian: gjem (“bridle”)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *yámas
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *yámas
    - Sanskrit: यम (yáma, “rein, curb, bridle”)
*yém-ti-s ~ *ym̥-téy-s
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *yatis
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *yatis
    - Sanskrit: यति (yáti, “holding, guidance”)
*yom-ó-s
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *yāmás
  - Proto-Indo-Aryan: *yāmás
    - Sanskrit: सुयाम (suyāmá, “restraining well”) (+ सु (su))
*ym̥-tó-s (“held, restrained”)
- Proto-Indo-Iranian: *yatás (see there for further descendants)

Unsorted formations

>? Proto-Germanic: *jēmaraz (“miserable, sorrowful, sad”) (or onomatopoeic)
>? Ancient Greek: ἥμερος (hḗmeros) (one of several hypotheses)
Proto-Tocharian: *yäm- (“to achieve”)^[7] (or from *h₁em-^[11])
- Tocharian A: yomär (3pl.pret.)
Sanskrit: यन्तु (yántu)
- ⇒ Sanskrit: यन्तुरम् m (yantúram, “guider, guiding”, acc.sg.) (from *यन्तुतुर् (*yantutúr)^[12])

Descendants

Proto-Indo-Iranian:
- Proto-Indo-Aryan:
  - Sanskrit: यम् (yam)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), “?*i̯em-”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 312
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2011–2025), “*i̯em-”, in Addenda und Corrigenda zu LIV²‎^[1]
^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), “i̭em-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 505
^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992–2001), “YAM”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[2] (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 399-400
^ Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2017–2018), “Chapter XVII: Indo-Iranian”, 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 Indo-Iranian, page 1910
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Edelʹman, D. I. (2011), “*i̭am-”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 4, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pages 68-78
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “yäm-”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 538-539
^ Malzahn, Melanie (2010), The Tocharian Verbal System, Leiden: Brill, page 796
^ Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 236
^ Orel, Vladimir (2000), A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian‎^[3], Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 268
^ Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 236
^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992–2001), “yantúr-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[4] (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 398

[LIV-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), “?*i̯em-”, in Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 312

[ACLIV-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2011–2025), “*i̯em-”, in Addenda und Corrigenda zu LIV²‎^[1]

[3] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “i̭em-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 505

[4] Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992–2001), “YAM”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[2] (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 399-400

[5] Kümmel, Martin Joachim (2017–2018), “Chapter XVII: Indo-Iranian”, 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 Indo-Iranian, page 1910

[ESIJa-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Edelʹman, D. I. (2011), “*i̭am-”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 4, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pages 68-78

[Adams-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “yäm-”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 538-539

[8] Malzahn, Melanie (2010), The Tocharian Verbal System, Leiden: Brill, page 796

[9] Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 236

[10] Orel, Vladimir (2000), A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian‎^[3], Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 268

[11] Rix, Helmut, editor (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben [Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs] (in German), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 236

[12] Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992–2001), “yantúr-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[4] (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 398

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