Narten present

Narten present is a proposed inflectional class of the Proto-Indo-European verb, named after the Indo-Iranianist Johanna Narten who posited its existence in 1968. It is characterized by accent on the root in all of the person-number forms.

Roots having Narten presents always possess a surface accent, having a lengthened grade R(ḗ) in the singular active, and a full-grade R(é) in the rest of the active forms, as well as the mediopassive. The proposed examples of roots having such acrostatic presents include the following:

  • *h₁ḗd- ~ h₁éd- "to eat"
  • h₁ḗh₂gʷʰ- ~ *h₁éh₂gʷʰ- "to drink"
  • ḱḗHs- ~ *ḱéHs- "to instruct"
  • dḗHḱ- ~ *déHḱ- "to honor"
  • wḗḱ- ~ *wéḱ- "to ask, demand"
  • wḗh₂- ~ *wéh₂- "to turn"
Narten present in the PIE root *stew- "to praise; declare"
person-number-tense Sanskrit Ancient Greek PIE Root form
3rd-person singular active stáuti - *stḗw-ti R(ḗ), i.e., strong
3rd-person-singular-middle stáve στεύται (steútai) *stéw-(t)oy R(é), i.e., weak

These forms are best reflected in Indo-Iranian and Hittite, with relics surviving in other languages, particularly in the root "to eat".

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