The Antipodes in PIE-Languages

Joannes Richter

Abstract
The foundation of PIE-languages has been based on antipodes, which have been identified as
associating respectively dissociating symbols.
These are the same types of antipodes, which are found in the Biblical Book Genesis in creating the
world by creating and separating antipodal structures like the “Earth”-”Matter” ↔ the
“Sea”-”Waters”.
The largest antipodal structure is the parental antipodes “Mother” ↔ “Father”, in which the
“Mother” is modeled as a associating and the “Father” as a dissociating structure.
The character of the antipodal elements may be identified in the “Mid” ↔ “With”-antipodes, in
which the English word for the “With”-element changed its originally dissociating nature tot an
associating character.
All five of the presented antipodes “Mother” ↔ “Father”, ”Matter” ↔ ”Water”, “Mid” ↔ “With”,
“Me” ↔ “We”, “Mast” ↔ “Fast” have been equipped with an initial letter ”M” for the associating
word and a varying letter “F”, “V”, “W” or “P” for the dissociating element. These varying letters
have been caused by the various historical phonemic shifts.
The largest of these antipodes (“Mother” ↔ “Father”) covers the complete region of PIE-languages,
whereas the other four antipodal-structures seem to be restricted to the subset of Germanic
languages.
Introduction
The foundation of PIE-languages has been based on antipodes, which have been identified as
associating respectively dissociating symbols.
One of these symbols are the prepositions for associating “mid”-, respectively dissociating “wiþ”-
elements. In this paper I will use the symbol “↔” to illustrate the antipodal relation “A ↔ B”
between two elements A and B.
The associating character of the “mid”- and the originally dissociating character of the word “wiþ”-
symbol is defined by historical etymological research and may be found in standard dictionaries.
The “With”-element changed its originally dissociating nature tot an associating character1:
In Middle English, the word (“With”) shifted to denote association rather than
opposition, displacing Middle English mid (“with”).

Although the antipodal structure “Mother” ↔ “Father” and the ”Matter” ↔ ”Water” may suggest to
consider all “M”-words as symbols for associating characters and all other “F”, “V”, ”W” and ”P”-
words as symbols for dissociating characters there is no real proof for these assumptions.
Originally “Father” is responsible for “feeding” the child and is not really necessarily the genetic
father, who was named “Kuni” (→ guma2 "man”). This characterizes the word “father” as a “food
supplier” or “feeder”. In runes “Father” is spelled as “Faþiᛦ” (“Father” → “feeder”).

Fig. 1: In runes “Father” is spelled as “Faþiᛦ” (“Father”)

Instead “man” (as a “human being” → male & female) is to be spelled “Maþr” in runes3:

Fig. 2: “Man” (as a “human being”) is to be spelled “Maþr” in runes

1 In English, Dutch and German the dual form is still alive

2 See: bridegroom (n.)
3 The Runen-Sprach-Schatz (1844) by Udo Waldemar Dieterich
“Maþr” (“Man” (as a “human being”) has been equipped with its own runic symbol. This rune
symbolizes a human being with raised arms:

Fig. 3: The “Maþr”-rune (“Man” (as a “human being”) symbolizes a human being with raised arms

We may think Mothers and Matter are associating elements and Fathers and Waters are
dissociating elements, but this consideration is an imaginative impulse. However in this paper I will
mark these element with yellow and blue colours for the letters “M”, “F”, “V”, ”W” and ”P” to
improve the identification.
In analogy to the antipodal elements in the “mid”↔“wiþ”-structure some of the other antipodal
elements are:
1. the accusative singular “mē”/”mi” ↔ nominative plural “we”/“wī” of the first person
pronouns. The singulars may be considered as associating and the plurals as dissociating
elements, but this evaluation is an imaginative impulse.
2. Some dual singular forms (such as the Lithuanian “mùdu”/”mùdvi”) ↔ the dual plurals
forms “wit”/”ƿit”/”við” of the personal pronouns for the first person.
3. The structured “Matter” opposite to the non-structured fluid “Waters” in the antipodal
structure ”Matter” ↔ ”Water”, which is to be separated in the Book Genesis.
4. In the antipodal structure “Mast” ↔ “Fast” the “Mast” describes a forced nutrition with
excessive amounts of food and the “Fast” is a denial or excessive reduction of nutrition. Fast
has been integrated in the Roman ruling regulation Fasces, which included a religious
discipline by obeying the fasten-rules.
In archaic times an ample amount of food may have been rare and probably symbolized
luxury. Originally the word “fast” may also have been identified as “hunger” and associated
with poverty. Clearly “Mast” ↔ “Fast” symbolizes a valid antipodal structure but there is no
evidence that “Mast” carries a more associating character than “Fast”.
The scope of this paper is the determination of the range of these associating respectively
dissociating elements by sorting the linguistic elements in the form of tables.
We may also have identified the modern English word “with” as a dissociating element wiþ (and
wiþer) in Old English which in Middle English had mutated to a associating symbol with. In this
paper these words will be sorted according to their original Old English definitions.
The M-/V- and M-/P-Antipodes
Some archaic PIE-languages have been based on M-/V-antipodes (respectively M-/W-, M-/F- and
M-/P-antipodes).
The “Mother” ↔ “Father” and “Matter” ↔ “Water” – Antipodes suggest these categories may
have:
1. resulted in the Biblical antipodes in the Book Genesis or
2. been inspired by the Biblical antipodes in the Book Genesis
The antipodes may be categorized as M-/V- or alternatively M-/W-, M-/F- and M-/P-categories.
Probably the “Mother” ↔ “Father”-concept is the most stable antipodal etymological construct,
which covered the PIE-sector. Therefore I will name the M-category “maternal” and the F/V/F/P-
category “paternal”.
Obviously “maternal” M-category is the stabler than the “paternal” F/V/F/P-category and does not
allow too many phonemic shifts. Therefore in the tables the words of the M-category are to be
localized at the first rank.
The mayor (most voluminous) “Mother” ↔ “Father”-concept seemed to be root concept from
which the other four minor constructs “Matter” ↔ “Water”, “Mast” ↔ “Fast”, “mid”↔“wiþ”, “Me”
↔ “We” have been derived.
The categories have been identified by the first letter M, respectively P,F,V or W (for “water”)
These M-/V- and M-/P-categories have been based on the following antipodes:
Conceptual Element A Element B Concepts
Categories M P/F/W/V
level Category Associating (?) Dissociating (?) Antipodes
(Maternal) (Paternal)
1 1st Genesis Mater Pater/Father/Vater The 1st Genesis phase
(Parents) (female) (male) “Mother” ↔ “Father”
2 2nd Genesis Matter Water The 2nd Genesis phase
(structure) (structured) (non-structured) “Matter” ↔ “Water”
3 Nutrition Mast Fast The food supply
(excessive) (no food) “Mast” ↔ “Fast”
4 Personal Me / Met We / Wit The personal pronouns
Pronouns (singular/dual) (plural/dual) “Me” ↔ “We” / “Met” ↔ “Wit”
5 Prepositions Mid Wiþ The prepositions
(Association) (Dissociation) “mid”↔“wiþ”
Table 1 The M-/V- and M-/P-Antipodes
In Genesis “Matter” ↔ “Water” takes place at an earlier phase than the creation of the parents
Adam and Eve. Therefore it would be better to consider the creation and split up phase “Mother” ↔
“Father” as a later episode in the flow of history. However the creation “Mother” ↔ “Father” is a
larger PIE-covering antipodal structure and displaces the “Matter” ↔ “Water” to a second rank.
The list of 5 well-adjusted antipodes documents a dedicated linguistic monument, which had been
designed to describe a set of similar patterns. Each antipodal set may start with an “M” for the
associating element and an “F”, “W” “P” or “V” for the dissociating element.
The first set of antipodes for Mother ↔ Father
The first set of antipodes covers 19 entries for identifiable words for the antipodal “Mother” ↔
“Father”, which may refer to the Book Genesis in which a respectable number of 6 antipodes is
listed. This list (1a: heaven ↔ earth, 1b: light ↔ darkness; 1c: day ← night, 2: rain-waters ↔ sea-
waters, 3a: earth (matter) ↔ seas (waters), 3b: plants ↔ fruits, 4: sun ↔ moon, 5: fishes ↔ birds, 6:
male ↔ female) includes the creation of Man “Adam” at the 6th day who later is to be split up in a
mother and a father.
This set of antipodes seems to cover the complete PIE-language, although my documentation
mainly concentrates on the easily accessible Germanic languages.

The second set of antipodes for Matter ↔ Water

The second set of antipodes covers 5 entries for identifiable words for “Matter” ↔ “Water”, which
also may refer to the Book Genesis. In Genesis the separation of earth (matter) and the seas (waters)
has been described. This set of antipodes seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages.
The correlation between Matter and Mother is obvious as the word Matter has been derived from
Mater (Latin for Mother).

The third set of antipodes for Mast ↔ Fast

The third set of antipodes covers 8 antipodes for identifiable words for “Mast” ↔ “Fast”. This set
of antipodes seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages.

The fourth set of antipodes for Me ↔ We

The third set of antipodes covers 12 antipodes for identifiable words for “Me” ↔ “We” / “Met” ↔
“Wit”. These set of antipodes seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages, which may be
caused by the definition of the plural forms “we” (including the dual form “wit”) for the personal
pronouns of the 1st person.

The fifth set of antipodes for Mid ↔ Wiþ

The fifth set of antipodes covers 8 antipodes for identifiable words for the prepositions
“mid”↔“wiþ”. This set of antipodes seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages.
The prepositions may have been derived from the dual forms “met” and “wit” for the personal
pronouns of the 1st person, in which “met” is considered as a “missing” nominative or accusative,
which may be similar to Lithuanian pronoun mùdu (m.)/ mùdvi (f) → (the first-person dual) we, the
two of us.
singular dual plural
nominative àš mùdu m, mùdvi f mẽs
genitive manęsę mùdviejų mūū sų
dative mán mùdviem mùms
accusative manè mùdu m, mùdvi f mùs
instrumental manimì, manimę mùdviem mumìs
locative manyjè, manỹ mùdviese mumysè
Table 2: Declension of mùdu (“we two”) (source: wiktionary)
According to The Runen-Sprach-Schatz (1844) by Udo Waldemar Dieterich in runes “mid” is
spelled as “miþ” (“with” → association) and “with” is spelled as “Uiþr” (“wither” → against,
dissociation):

Fig. 4: “mid” is spelled as “miþ”

Fig. 5: “with” is spelled as “Viþr” / “Uiþr”

In Lithuanian the plural form of mùdu is mẽs, which sincerely deviates from the Germanic “we”
and suggests to think of a complete Germanic switch from an archaic plural mẽs to a more modern
“we”. This would indicate a transformation from associative to a dissociating philosophy.
Overview
The 5 sets may be illustrated in the following table table:

Antipodes Entries Language family The “M”-element P/F/W/V-elements

Genesis 1 19 PIE Mother Father
“Mother” ↔ “Father”
Genesis 2 5 Germanic Matter Water
“Matter” ↔ “Water”
Nutrition 8 Germanic Mast Fast
“Mast” ↔ “Fast”
Personal pronouns 12 Germanic Me We
“Me” ↔ “We” Mudu (?) Wit (?)
Prepositions 8 Germanic mid Wiþ
“mid”↔“wiþ” (→ with)
Table 3 Overview of the antipodes in PIE-languages

The following chapters describe the five tables in which the antipodes in PIE-languages will be
documented. The colour codes had to be modified because there now are three different types for
markings.
The “Mother” / “Father” – Antipodes
The Mother / Father-categories have been identified by the first letter M (maternal), respectively P,
F, V (paternal). The M-category is marked yellow. To illustrate the regions for he V/F-categories I
marked the Germanic words green. The ancient (Latin, Greek,...) P-categories are blue.
# # history Language Mother Father Source
(genetic) (provider of food)
0 from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr *ph₂tḗr Wiktionary
1 from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr *fadēr Wiktionary
2 from Old English mōdor fæder Wiktionary
3 from Middle English moder fader Wiktionary
4 0 English Mother Father Wiktionary
4 1 North Frisian faaðer Wiktionary
5 Low German Fader Wiktionary
6 0 compare West Frisian moer faar Wiktionary
6 1 Saterland Frisian Muur Wiktionary
6 2 Dutch moeder vader Wiktionary
6 3 German Mutter Vater Wiktionary
6 4 Danish moder fader Wiktionary
6 5 Norwegian mor far Wiktionary
6 6 Swedish mor far Wiktionary
6 7 Runes (Icelandic) Muᚦir FaᚦiR Dieterich

7 0 compare Irish máthair athair Wiktionary

8 1 Ancient Greek μήτηρ (mḗtēr) πατήρ (patḗr) Wiktionary

8 2 Latin mater pater Wiktionary
8 3 Tocharian A mācar pācar Wiktionary
8 4 Tocharian B mācer pācer Wiktionary
8 5 Lithuanian mótė patinas Wiktionary
(“male animal”)
8 6 Russian мать (matʹ) отец (otéc) Wiktionary
8 7 Albanian Motër (“sister”) Wiktionary
8 8 Armenian մայր (mayr) հայր (hayr) Wiktionary
8 9 Persian ‫( مادر‬mâdar) ‫( پدر‬pedar) Wiktionary
9 0 Sanskrit म त (mātṛ)) प त (pitṛ, “father”) Wiktionary

Table 4 The Mother / Father – Antipodes

(Source: Wiktionary entries, composed from Mother & Father)
The “Matter” / “Water” – Antipodes
Matter is a derivative of Latin mater (“mother”).
The Matter ↔ Water – Antipodes4 suggest these categories may have:
1. resulted in the Biblical antipodes in the Book Genesis
2. been inspired by the Biblical antipodes in the Book Genesis
The antipodes seem to follow the “matter” ↔ ”water”-pattern for Germanic languages, but not for
neighboring linguistic fanilies such as Gaelic, Baltic and Romance.
Language Language matter water Source
family
0 PIE PIE *wódrr , *wédōr Wiktionary

1 Germanic Proto-Germanic *watōr Wiktionary

1 Hellenic Ancient Greek Wiktionary

1 Italic Latin materia aqua Wiktionary

1 Romance Old French materie, matiere, eau Wiktionary

5 Romance Spanish madera, materia agua Wiktionary

2 Germanic Old English intinga wæter, water, ƿæter Wiktionary

3 Germanic Middle English mater, matere, water, watere, watir, waterre Wiktionary
4 Germanic Dutch materie water Wiktionary

4 Germanic English matter water Wiktionary

4 Germanic German materie wasser Wiktionary

5 Germanic Danish materie vand etymonline

5 Germanic Norwegian vann Wiktionary

5 Germanic Swedish materia vatten Wiktionary

6 Baltic Lithuanian vanduo Wiktionary

7 Gaelic Irish uisce Wiktionary

8 Slavic Russian материя (materija) вода Wiktionary

Table 5 The Matter / Water – Antipodes

This set of antipodes seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages.

4 10 God called the dry land Earth,[d] and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.
The “Mast”- / “Fast”- antipodes
The fast has been considered as a powerful tool for religious and political leaders to order
discipline, which is named “Fasces” (the “bundling of power”). The word “to fasten, fix” also relate
to “fettering” (usually the “feet”) to enforce immobility among the crowd of victims. This set of
antipodes also seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages.

Language Language Mast Fasten Source

family abstinence from food
0 PIE PIE Wiktionary

1 Germanic Proto-Germanic *fastinōną → to fasten, fix Wiktionary

from *fastuz (“fixed,
secure”), equivalent to fast +
-en.
1 Hellenic Ancient Greek Μάζα (masses)
Μαζος (breast, Dieterich
mamma) Perseus
ματτύα
1 Italic Latin mattĕa (A dainty Fasces (→ bundling power) perseus
dish, a delicacy)
1 Romance Old French Wiktionary

5 Romance Spanish Wiktionary

2 Germanic Gothic mæsten (?) fastan bosworth

2 Germanic Old German masten festinōn

2 Germanic Old English mæstan5 fæstnian Wiktionary

3 Germanic Middle English Fastenen, fastnen, festnen Wiktionary

4 Germanic Dutch mesten vasten Wiktionary

4 Germanic English mast Fasten Wiktionary

4 Germanic German mästen fasten Wiktionary

5 Germanic Danish opfede faste etymonline

5 Germanic Old Norse masten fasta Wiktionary

5 Germanic Swedish masten fasta Wiktionary

6 Baltic Serbo-Croatian Wiktionary

7 Gaelic Irish mát Wiktionary

8 Slavic Russian масть (mastʹ) пост (post) Wiktionary

8 Slavic Polish maść

8 Slavic Proto-Slavic *mastь
Table 6 The “Mast”- / “Fast”- antipodes

5 to fatten (animals etc.)

The role of fasten-rules according to The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1842)
The following remarks to the word “Fast” may illustrate the impact of all activities, which are
related to the instruments to stabilize the state's power by committing people to follow the rules.
One of these tools are the religious rules to respect the various forms of “fast”.
FAST, in general, denotes abstinence from food; but is more particularly used for such
abstinence on a religious account.

Fasting has always been reckoned a particular duty amongst philosophers and religious
people, some of whom have carried their abstinence to an incredible length. At Rome it
was practised both by kings and emperors. Numa Pompilius, Julius Cæsar, Augustus,
Vespasian, and others, we are told, observed stated fasts; and Julian surnamed the
Apostate was so exact in this observance as to outdo the priests themselves, and even
the most rigid philosophers. The Pythagoreans kept a continual lent; but with this
difference, that they believed the use of fish to be equally unlawful with that of flesh.
Besides their constant temperance, they also frequently fasted rigidly for a considerable
time. In this respect, however, they were all outdone by their master Pythagoras, who
continued .his fasts for no less than fifty days together. Even Apollonius Tyaneus, one of
his most celebrated disciples, could never equal him in the length of his fasts, though
these greatly exceeded those of the ordinary Pythagoreans.

FASTI, in Roman antiquity, the kalendar in which were expressed the several days of
the year, with their feasts, games, and other ceremonies. There were two kinds of fasti,
the greater and less ; the former being distinguished by the appellation of magistrales,
and the latter by that of fasti kalendares. The fasti kalendares, which were properly and
primarily called fasti, are defined by Festus Pompeius to be books containing a
description of the whole year, that is, ephemerides, or diaries, in which the several kinds
of days, festi, profesti, and fasti, nefasti, are distinguished. The author of these was
Numa, who committed the care and direction of the fasti to the pontifex maximus,
whom the people used to consult on every occasion.

In the greater fasti, or fasti magistrales, were expressed the several feasts, with every
thing relating to the gods, religion, and the magistrates; the emperors, their birthdays,
offices, days consecrated to them, with feasts and ceremonies established in their
honour, or for their prosperity.

FASTI was also a chronicle or register of time, in which the several years were denoted
by the respective consuls, with the principal events which happened during their
consulates. This register was denominated fasti oonsulares, or the consular fasti.

FASTI, or Dies Fasti, likewise denoted court days. The word fasti, fastorum, is formed
from the verb fari, to speak, because during those days the courts were opened, causes
might be heard, and the prætor was allowed fari, to pronounce the three words, do, dico,
addico. The days in which this was prohibited were called nefasti. The dies fasti were
noted in the kalendar by the letter F ; but it is to be observed that there were some days
ex parte fasti, partly fasti, partly nefasti, in which justice might be distributed at certain
times of the day, and not at others. These days were called intercisi, and were marked in
the kalendar by the letters F. P. fastos primo, in which justice might be demanded during
the first part of that day.6

6 The Encyclopaedia Britannica (A. and C. Black, 1842) -Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, Band
7;Band 9
The personal pronouns as “me”- and “we”-antipodes
In contrast to the nominatives such as “ego” and “I” the word “me” is a valid word for almost all
PIE-languages, which allow us to easily compare all corresponding “með”/”mit”)-prepositions:
Language Associating “me” Dissociating “we” Dissociating “wit”
singular (“I”) plural (“we”) dual (“we two”)
01 Proto-Indo-European *me *wéy
02 Proto-Germanic *miz *wīz, *wiz
03 Greek με (me) μεις (meis); εμείς νώ (nṓ), νῶϊ- (nôï)
03 Latin me nōs -
03 Old High German mih
04 Old Church Slavonic мене
05 Old Saxon mī wir wit
06 Old Norse mik vi vit
07 Old Frisian mi wy wit
09 Old English meċ, mē wē ƿit (wit)
10 Old Dutch mij wī, we, wij *wit
10 German mich wir
11 Middle English me We
12 Westrobothnian wä, ve, -wi, -ve, -i
13 Low German me wi
15 Scots mi wee, we
15 North Frisian we wat
15 Faroese meg vit vit
15 Danish, Swedish and mig vi
Norwegian
15 Icelandic mig vér við
15 Elfdalian wįð
16 Gothic mik
16 Russian меняū (menjá) мы (mi)
16 Standard Albanian mua. ne
17 Old Irish mé sinni
17 Irish mí sinn
17 Lithuanian mi mes mudu/mudvi
17 Welsh mi ni
18 Proto-Slavic *mene
Table 7 The personal pronouns “me” - associations
The prepositions “mid” & “wiþ” as antipodes
• The associating “mit”-words are: *midi, mid, met, mit, með, mei, með, mith
(in Norse, English, Dutch, German, Icelandic, Frisian).
• The associating “wit”-words are: við, ved, vid, wið, við
(in Danish, Swedish, Elfdalian, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian).
• The dissociating “wit”-words are: við, wiþ, with, wedder, weder/weer, wider/wieder
(in German, Dutch, Saxon, Old English).

Language Association Association Dissociation Explanation for “with”

“mid” “with” “with” Association/Dissociation
PIE. *wi separation
PIE *wi-tero- more apart
Ancient Greek μετά, σύν, με μετά (metá) against
Proto-Germanic *midi *wiþr- against
Old Norse með við against, towards, along with,
with, among, for
West- wä, ve, -wi,
robothnian -ve, -i
Old English mid wiþ against, opposite,
mit, miþ, mið wiþer toward
Old Frisian mith with against, again
Old Saxon with against, again
Middle English mid, med, medde, mit with
midde, mide,
Low German wedder again, against, opposite
Dutch met weder again
weer again, opposite
German mit wider against
wieder again
Modern Frisian mei (“with”)
Icelandic með (“with”) við (“near”) beside, near, next to, with, to
English mid with Against, close to; near to, ...
Danish med (“with”) ved (“at,”) by, near, with
at, by, in case of upon, on, onto
Swedish med (“with”) vid (“at”) by, next to, with
Elfdalian wið (“at”) at, by, beside
Faroese með (“with”) við (“with”) with , beside, near , in
Norwegian med (“with”) ved (“at”) at, by, near, on, by

Table 8 The prepositions mid and with – associations

This set of antipodes seems to be restricted to the Germanic languages.
Contents
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................2
The M-/V- and M-/P-Antipodes...........................................................................................................4
The first set of antipodes for Mother ↔ Father ..............................................................................5
The second set of antipodes for Matter ↔ Water...........................................................................5
The third set of antipodes for Mast ↔ Fast.....................................................................................5
The fourth set of antipodes for Me ↔ We.......................................................................................5
The fifth set of antipodes for Mid ↔ Wiþ.......................................................................................5
Overview..............................................................................................................................................7
The “Mother” / “Father” – Antipodes..............................................................................................8
The “Matter” / “Water” – Antipodes................................................................................................9
The “Mast”- / “Fast”- antipodes....................................................................................................10
The role of fasten-rules according to The Encyclopaedia Britannica (1842)............................11
The personal pronouns as “me”- and “we”-antipodes...................................................................12
The prepositions “mid” & “wiþ” as antipodes...............................................................................13