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Narten present
open-in-new
<p>Narten present is a proposed inflectional class of the <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European_verb/Gf0vLd6B">Proto-Indo-European verb</a>, named after the Indo-Iranianist <a href="/facts/Johanna_Narten/6epwDxD0">Johanna Narten</a> who posited its existence in 1968. It is characterized by <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European_accent/WThQgHxK">accent</a> on the <a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European_root/L3p63vYW">root</a> in all of the person-number forms. </p><p>Roots having Narten presents always possess a surface accent, having a <a href="/facts/Indo-European_ablaut/fphzPyba">lengthened grade</a> R(ḗ) in the singular active, and a <a href="/facts/Indo-European_ablaut/fphzPyba">full-grade</a> R(é) in the rest of the active forms, as well as the <a href="/facts/Mediopassive/XbjNujAs">mediopassive</a>. The proposed examples of roots having such <i>acrostatic presents</i> include the following: </p> <table><tbody><tr><th></th><th></th></tr><tr><td><ul><li>*h₁ḗd- ~ h₁éd- "to eat"</li><li>h₁ḗh₂gʷʰ- ~ *h₁éh₂gʷʰ- "to drink"</li><li>ḱḗHs- ~ *ḱéHs- "to instruct"</li><li>dḗHḱ- ~ *déHḱ- "to honor"</li><li>wḗḱ- ~ *wéḱ- "to ask, demand"</li><li>wḗh₂- ~ *wéh₂- "to turn"</li></ul></td><td>Narten present in the PIE root *stew- "to praise; declare"<table><tbody><tr><th>person-number-tense</th><th><a href="/facts/Sanskrit/ychfjhlx">Sanskrit</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Ancient_Greek/LIK7NlUh">Ancient Greek</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Proto-Indo-European_language/cVLNoM3p">PIE</a></th><th>Root form</th></tr><tr><td>3rd-person singular active</td><td><i>stáuti</i></td><td>-</td><td>*stḗw-ti</td><td>R(ḗ), i.e., <i>strong</i></td></tr><tr><td>3rd-person-singular-middle</td><td><i>stáve</i></td><td><i>steútai</i></td><td>*stéw-(t)oy</td><td>R(é), i.e., <i>weak</i></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>These forms are best reflected in <a href="/facts/Indo-Iranian_languages/uIfMNTQV">Indo-Iranian</a> and <a href="/facts/Hittite_language/Pc8YGhRU">Hittite</a>, with relics surviving in other languages, particularly in the root "to eat". </p>