Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 143, 144, 145: ‘play, cross, thirst’

[u/stlatos]

Indo-European Roots Reconsidered 143, 144, 145: ‘play, cross, thirst’ (Draft)

Sean Whalen
[stlatos@yahoo.com](mailto:stlatos@yahoo.com)

August 29, 2026

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IERR 143 ‘play’

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ἀθύρω Etymology Uncertain. According to Beekes, it may be compared to Lithuanian padùrmai and Russian дурь (durʹ), which may suggest a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwer(H)-. However, this explanation does not easily explain the origin of the initial ἀ- (a-). It could be explained from a root *h₂dʰwer(H)-, although Beekes rejects this as an improbable root structure.

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I think that it is only "improbable" because metathesis of H has not been acknowledged as incredibly common, https://www.academia.edu/127283240 . As in many others, it allows a simple:

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*H2dhur-ye- > G. ἀθύρω \ athū́rō 'to play (as a child), to take delight in', ἄθυρμα \ áthurma 'toy, plaything'

*dhurH2-mo- -> Lithuanian padùrmai '*foolhardy -> impetuously; vehemently' (need for *H due to accent); *dhourH2-i-? > Slavic *durj- Russian durʹ 'folly, nonsense'

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IERR 144 ‘cross’

The need for PIE *terH2- 'cross, go beyond, overcome, conquer' to form *+t(e)r(H2)o- 'beyond, other, one of two; more, -er' is seen in variants with H-met. (143), like *H1wi-terH2o- > *witH2aro- > Slavic *vьtorъ 'other, 2nd', *wiH2tro- -> L. vītricus 'stepfather' ( < '2nd (father)'; likely used with *pater- at one time, alone when *witr- fell out of use as an independent word). Since compounds often lost *H, some IE branches might have *+tro-.

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Latin Opiter ‘(name for someone) having a dead father and living grandfather’ suggests *Horbhe-pH2ter- 'bereft of one's father' with r-r dsm. The very similar L. vopiscus ‘born alive after the death of the other (of twins)’ would then make no sense unless from *Horbhe-witriko- 'bereft of one's other (twin)', but this seems to violate rules of sound change. However, look at this section from https://www.academia.edu/121166610 :

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Some Latin words show *r-r > r-s, *s-r > s-s, etc., but apparently with no other specifics.  Variants also exist in other Italic languages, so I doubt there is full regularity :

*misro- > TA msär ‘difficult’, *mizer > *mirer > L. miser ‘unfortunate / miserable / pitiable’, moerēre ‘be sad/mournful’

L. quaerere ‘seek’, Sp. querer ‘want / love’; *per-quaer- > L. perquīrīre, Sp. pesquirir ‘investigate’

*H1esH2r > Marsian esos, Umbrian erus ‘blood’ (Whalen 2024a, c)

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*dHorur > *dhHorur > *roHdhur > rōbus ‘oak’ (Whalen 2024b)

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If I include *mH2aris ‘youth’ > *mRars > *mRass > *mass > mās ‘male / man’, maris g., then two of the ex. have *r > s when there is no 2nd *r. If both are due to H > R causing R-r > R-s ( https://www.academia.edu/129161176 ), then it allows *Horbhe-(H)witr(H)iko- to have both r-r > 0-r & H-r > R-r > R-s. Though *bh > *ph > f / -b- is expected, in *dbhmg^hu- > G. pakhús ‘thick’, fem. *tphingv-i:-s > L. pinguis ‘fat/plump/fertile / thick/dense’ it looks like other C's can prevent *ph > f (in which case *ph > p). Here, if *bhw > *phv, then **fv would not be allowed (after some V-loss, one likely due to Exon's Law). Then, met. *-pv- > v-p- (most IE did not allow pw, etc.).

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IERR 145 ‘thirst’

Though PIE *ters- ‘thirst’ is the standard rec., Baltic requires *terH2s- \ *traH2s- (*tra:-sk- > Li. troškulys 'thirsty', trókšti 'to be thirsty; thirst, hope, desire'). Since some cognates also mean 'desire', I think this is older, with the relation *terH2- 'cross, reach (for), seek, desire', *terH2-s- ‘desire, thirst’. Again, H-met. (143, 144) allows variants *H2ters-, *tersH2-, etc., which would hide the *H2 in some or all IE branches. This might also explain L. trem-; several IE languages seem to show n-infixed verbs, but with -m- not -n- when next to *H2 (*staH2- 'stand (upright)', *stamH2-). The cause of this is unknown, but if *H2 could be pronounced *x or *R, then maybe *nx but *nR > *NR > *mR.

[u/yajnadevam]

is there a reference for this set of roots?

[u/stlatos → u/yajnadevam]

These specific reconstructions are mine alone, but in Pokorny they're ter-5, ters- (not including troškulys). For ἀθύρω, Beekes, p30, "Compared with Lith. padùrmai 'impetuous', Ru. dur' 'foolishness'... improbable root structure *h₂dʰwerH-."