Indo-European languages are classified as either centum or satem languages. From their Proto-Indo-European (PIE) ancestor language, these two language groups developed two distinct stop consonant merger patterns. Out of interest I created some tables which roughly show the development of the stop consonants from PIE to the various Indo-European languages. The tables show which sounds they evolved to and also which sounds from PIE merged together.
The following table shows centum and satem language difference nicely:
| kʷ | gʷ | gʷʰ | labiovelars | Merged in satem languages |
|
| Merged in centum languages |
k | g | gʰ | plain velars | |
| ḱ | ǵ | ǵʰ | palatovelars | Assibilated in satem languages |
The Proto-Indo-European stop consonants:
| p | t | ḱ | k | kʷ |
| b | d | ǵ | g | gʷ |
| bʰ | dʰ | ǵʰ | gʰ | gʷʰ |
The following are centum languages.
Latin:
| p | t | c [k] | qu [kʷ]; c [k] |
|
| b | d | g | u/v [w>v]; gu [ɡʷ] |
|
| b; f | d; f; b | h; h/g | f;
g/u [w]; gu [ɡʷ] |
|
Greek:
| p | t | k | p; t; k | |
| b | d | g | b; d; g | |
| ph [pʰ] | th [tʰ] | kh [kʰ] | ph [pʰ]; th [tʰ]; kh [kʰ] |
|
Proto-Germanic:
| f [ɸ] | þ [θ] | h [x] | hw [xʷ] | |
| p | t | k | kw [kʷ] | |
| b [b~β] | d [d~ð] | g [ɡ~ɣ] | gw [gʷ~ɣʷ]; b; g; w |
|
Proto-Celtic:
| ɸ; b; w; p | t | k | kʷ | |
| b | d | g | b | |
| gʷ | ||||
The following are satem languages.
Sanskrit:
| p; ph [pʰ] | t; th [t̪ʰ] | ś [ɕ] | k; c [t͡ɕ]; kh [kʰ] | |
| b; bh | d; dh | j [d͡ʑ]; h [ɦ] | g; j [d͡ʑ]; gh; h [ɦ] | |
| bh [bʱ] | dh [dʱ] | h [ɦ] | gh [ɡʱ]; h [ɦ] | |
Old Church Slavic:
| p | t | s | k; č [tʃ]; c [ts] | |
| b | d | z | g; ž [ʒ]; dz | |
Lithuanian:
| p | t | š [ʃ] | k | |
| b | d | ž [ʒ] | g | |
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An example of these changes from the PIE word for “heart”:
| Proto-Indo-European | ḱḗr/ḱr̥d- |
| Latin | cor/cord- |
| Greek | kardiá |
| German (See Proto-Germanic) | Herz |
| Gothic (See Proto-Germanic) | hairto |
| Welsh (See Proto-Celtic) | craidd |
| Irish (See Proto-Celtic) | croí |
| Russian (See Old Church Slavic) | sérdce |
| Lithuanian | širdis |
And another for the PIE word for “to convey”:
| Proto-Indo-European | weǵʰ– |
| English | way, weigh |
| Latin | vehō |
| Ancient Greek | wékhō |
| German (See Proto-Germanic) | Weg, Wagen |
| Russian (See Old Church Slavic) | vezǫ |
| Lithuanian | vežti |
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