The particles of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) have been reconstructed by modern linguists based on similarities found across all Indo-European languages.
Many particles could be used both as adverbs and postpositions. This is similar to modern languages; compare English He is above in the attic (adverb) and The bird is above the house (preposition). The postpositions became prepositions in the daughter languages except Anatolian, Indo-Iranian and Sabellic; some of the other branches such as Latin and Greek preserve postpositions vestigially.
Reflexes, or descendants of the PIE reconstructed forms in its daughter languages, include the following.
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| from | Ved. ápa "away, forth", Gk. apó, Lat. ab "from", Alb. pa "without", Eng. of, off, Hitt. āppa, āppan "behind" | |
| to, by, at | Lat. ad, Osc. adpúd, Umb. ař, Goth. at, ON at, Eng. æt/at, Gm. az/--, Ir. ad/, Welsh add-, at, Gaul. ad, Phryg. addaket, XMK addai[1] | |
| from, back, again | Lat. at, OCS отъ, Ir. aith-, Welsh ad- "re-", Toch. A atas, Toch. B ate "away", Gk. atar "however" | |
| on, upon | Av. ana, Gk. ano, Lat. in (in some cases), ON á, Goth. ana, Eng. an/on, Gm. ?/an, Lith. ant | |
| against, at the end, in front of, before | Gk. anti, Lat. ante, Hitt. hantezzi "first" | |
| off, away, too much, very | Ved. ava, Lat. aut, autem, Lith. nuo | |
| around (→ both) | Ved. abhi, Av. aiwito, aibi, Pers. abiy/?, Gk. amphi, ON um, Eng. bi/by; ymbi/umbe (obsolete), Gm. umbi/um; ?/bei, Lat. ambi, ambo, Gaul. ambi, Ir. imb/um, Welsh am, Toch. āmpi/?, Alb. mbi, Lith. abu, OCS oba, Russ. ob "about", oba "both" | |
| without | OCS без, OPruss. bhe, Ved. bahis "from outwards" | |
| to | Gk. -de, Eng. to, Gm. zu, Lith. da-, OCS do, PER tâ, Welsh i, Ir. do, Luw. anda, | |
| out | Lat. ex, Gk. ἐκ (ek)/ἐξ (eks), Gaul. ex-, Ir. ass/as; acht/; echtar, Russ. из (iz), Alb. jashtë, Oscan eh-, Umbrian ehe-, Lith. iš, Ltv. iz, OPruss. is, Welsh ech- | |
| outside | Gk. ektos | |
| extra | Lat. extra, Welsh eithr "except, besides" | |
| in | Gk. en, Lat. in, Eng. in/in, Gm. in/in, īn/ein-, Ir. i, Welsh yn, Arm. i, Alb. në, OPruss. en, OCS vŭ(n)-, Luw. anda, Carian nt_a, Goth. in, ON í, Ir. in/i, Lith. į, Ltv. iekšā | |
| within, inside | Ved. antár "between", Lat. inter "between, among", Gm. untar/unter "between, among" (see also below), Ir. eter/idir "between", Cornish ynter, Alb. ndër "between, in", Pers. ændær "inside", SCr. unutar "within" | |
| beyond, over (about quantity), besides | Lat. et, etiam, Gk. ἔτι, οὐκέτι, Ved. अति (ati), Av. aiti, OPruss. et-, at-, Eng. ed-, edgrow, Gaul. eti, t-ic | |
| near, at, upon, by | Ved. ápi "by, on", Gk. epí "on", Lat. ob "on", Arm. ew "and",Av. aipi, Lith. api-, apie, Alb. afër "near" | |
| without | Khot. anau "without" Osset. aenae Gk. aneu | |
| away, thither | Hitt. pe-[2] |
| by, along | Hitt. katta "with, down (+Gen)", Gaul. kanta "with", Gk. katá "down" Welsh gan | |
| with | Lat. cum, Ir. co/?, Welsh cyf-, Goth. ga- | |
| in the middle | Pers., miyan Av. madiiana, Khot. mayana-, Ved. madhyama Lat. medius OPruss. median Goth. miduma "the middle" OCS meždu, Welsh y mewn | |
| under | Ved. adhás, Av. aδairi, Lat. īnfr-ā, Eng. under/under, Arm. ənd,Pers. ?/zēr, ON und, Goth. undar, Gm. untar/unter, Arm. ĕndhup/ĕnthub | |
| down, under | Ved. ní, Eng. ne-ther, Arm. ni, OCS ni-zŭ | |
| now | Hitt. nu, Luw. nanun, Ved. nū, OPers. nūra/?, Pers. æknun/konun/?, Gk. nun, Lat. nunc, ON nū, Goth. nu, Eng. nū/now, Gm. nu/nun, Toch. nuṃ/nano, Lith. nūn, Ltv. nu, OPruss. teinu, OCS нъінѣ (nyne), Alb. tani, Arb. naní (but see the list of conjunctions below) | |
| towards, into, at | OCS объ | |
| around, through | Ved. pári "around, forth", Gk. perí "around", Lat. per "through", OPruss. per, Alb. për, Russ. pere- "through, over" | |
| before, forth, in front of, ahead of | Hitt. pēran "before", prā "toward", Ved. prā, Lat. per, prō, Eng. for/fore-, Gm. ?/vor, Welsh rhy, rhag, er, Lith. per, pro, Alb. para, Pers. pær-/pæri-/par-, Russ. pered | |
| after | Ved. pascat, Lat. post, Lith. paskui[3] | |
| for (enclitic), for the purpose of | Ved. r̥ OCS ради | |
| through | Ved. tiras, Lat. trāns, Eng. through, OIr. tar,[4] Welsh tra | |
| above | Ved. upári, Gk. hupér, Lat. s-uper, Eng. over, Ir. for/fara, Welsh gor-, gwar- Arm. (i) ver "up", Alb. sipër, Gm. über | |
| under, below | Ved. úpa "up to", Gk. hupó "below", Lat. s-ub, Ir. fo/faoi, Welsh go-, gwa- Hitt. upzi, Av. upa, Pers. upa/?, Umb. sub, Osc. sup, ON upp, Goth. iup, Eng. upp/up, Gm. uf/auf, Welsh go, Gaul. voretus, Toch. ?/spe, Lith. po | |
In the following languages, two reflexes separated by a slash mean:
Two privatives can be reconstructed, and, the latter only used for negative commands. The privative prefix is likely the zero grade of .
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| sentence negator | Ved. ná, Lat. nē/ne-, Eng. ne/no, Gm. ne/nein, Lith. nè, OCS ne, Hitt. natta, Luw. ni-, Lyc. ni-, Lyd. ni-, Av. na, Pers. na/?, Gk. ne-, Osc. ne, Umb. an-, ON né, Goth. ni, Ir. ní/ní, Welsh ni, Arm. an-, Toch. an-/en-, Ltv. ne, OPruss. ne, Pol. nie, Russ. ne, net, Alb. nuk | |
| privative prefix | Hitt. am-, Ved. a(n)-, Gk. a(n)-, Lat. in-, Alb. e-, Eng. un-, Gm. un- | |
| negator for commands | Ved. mā, Per ma-, Gk. mē (Doric mā) | |
Adverbs derived from adjectives (like English bold-ly, beautiful-ly) arguably cannot be classified as particles. In Proto-Indo-European, these are simply case forms of adjectives and thus better classified as nouns. An example is "greatly", a nominative-accusative singular.
The following conjunctions can be reconstructed:
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes |
|---|---|---|
| and, word or phrase connector† | Hitt. -ku, Ved. ca, Av. ca, Gk. te, Lat. -que, Celtib. kue, Per ke | |
| or, word or phrase disjunctor† | Ved. vā, Gk. -(w)ē, Lat. -ve | |
| and, sentence connector | Gk. dé, Alb. dhe, Russ. da "and" | |
| and, sentence connector | Hitt. nu, Ved. nú, Gk. nú, Toch. ?/nu, Ir. no-/?, OCS nŭ (but see the adverbs above) | |
There is only one PIE interjection that can be securely reconstructed; the second is uncertain.
| Particle | Meaning | Reflexes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| expression of woe or agony | Hitt. uwai, Lat. vae, Welsh gwae, Breton gwa, Eng. woe, ON. vei, Pers. vai, Kurd. wai, Ved. uvē, Gk. aī, aī aī (woe!, alas | ), Lith. vajé, Ltv. ai, vai, Arm. vai | ||
| (?) | oh! | Gk. ō, Lat. ō, Eng. oh!, Gm. oh | , Russ. o!, Pers. e | , |