Van Hes, Sander. The Proto-Indo-European ū-stems on the basis of Slavic, Indo-Iranian and Greek

Research paper. — www.academia.edu. — 2020. — 14 p.
The *-uH-stems present a problematic category in Proto-Indo-European, not only in view of their scarcity, but also their derivational characteristics – or, as it turns out, lack thereof – and ablaut paradigm. This study examines the ū-stems on the basis of these three parameters in the branches in which they are best represented: Slavic, Indo-Iranian and Greek. The results of the study suggest that the ū-stems had their origin in root nouns with root-final *-uH and that they were probably a recent creation within Proto-Indo-European. In support of this conclusion, a new etymology is proposed for PIE *su̯eḱruH- ‘mother-in-law’, as a compound of su̯e- ‘own’ and *kruH- ‘blood’. Seen in this light, this compound may have formed the nucleus for the creation of the ū-stems in Indo-European.
Key words: ū-stems, Proto-Indo-European, Slavic, Indo-Iranian, Greek, ablaut paradigm, derivation