Proto-Indo-European root

The <a href="/facts/Root_(linguistics)/VwkvmJxn">roots</a> of the reconstructed <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European_language/cVLNoM3p">Proto-Indo-European language</a> (PIE) are basic parts of <a href="/facts/Word/sD4KyoLF">words</a> to carry a <a href="/facts/Lexical_(semiotics)/EV2rqeBx">lexical</a> meaning, so-called <a href="/facts/Morpheme/4JNcPMHs">morphemes</a>. PIE roots usually have <a href="/facts/Verb/zp42buvn">verbal</a> meaning like "to eat" or "to run". Roots never occurred alone in the language. Complete <a href="/facts/Inflected/mhXSXpmJ">inflected</a> verbs, nouns, and adjectives were formed by adding further morphemes to a root and potentially changing the root's vowel in a process called <a href="/facts/Ablaut/fphzPyba">ablaut</a>.
A root consists of a central <a href="/facts/Vowel/BNhCeFtH">vowel</a> that is preceded and followed by at least one <a href="/facts/Consonant/81X2SGS6">consonant</a> each. A number of rules have been determined to specify which consonants can occur together, and in which order. The modern understanding of these rules is that the consonants with the highest <a href="/facts/Sonority_hierarchy/k49KjmA4">sonority</a> (*l, *r, *y, *n) are nearest to the vowel, and the ones with the lowest sonority such as <a href="/facts/Plosives/okC9pztc">plosives</a> are furthest away. There are some exceptions to these rules such as <a href="/facts/Thorn_cluster/NyBduMX6">thorn clusters</a>.
Sometimes new roots were created in PIE or its early descendants by various processes such as root extensions (adding a sound to the end of an existing root) or <a href="/facts/Metathesis_(linguistics)/qPNPuQW1">metathesis</a>.

Proto-Indo-European root open-in-new

Proto-Indo-European root