dʰeh₁-

One of the most productive PIE verbal roots, meaning "to put, to place, to do." The reduplicated present *dʰi-dʰeh₁-mi is preserved in Greek títhēmi and Sanskrit dádhāti.‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌ Latin continues it through facere and the -dere verbs; Germanic through English do.

Discussion

The root *dʰeh₁- ("to put, to place, to do, to make") is among the most productive verbal roots in the PIE lexicon, with derivatives spanning physical placement, creation, law, and religious ritual.‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌ It is treated in Pokorny (IEW 235–239), Rix (LIV² s.v. *dʰeh₁-), and receives detailed attention in Watkins and in Beekes (s.v. τίθημι). The laryngeal *h₁ is reconstructed on the basis of the non-colouring of the root vowel (the *e remains unchanged in daughter languages) and the long vowel reflexes in forms such as Greek thē- and Latin -dō.

Greek títhēmi (τίθημι, "I put, I place") preserves the reduplicated present *dʰi-dʰeh₁-mi with full morphological transparency. The nominal derivative thésis (θέσις, "a placing, a proposition") and its compounds — antíthesis, sýnthesis, hypóthesis — entered the philosophical and scientific vocabulary of Europe through Greek. The form théma (θέμα, "that which is placed") and the adjective thetós ("placed, adopted") are likewise productive. Beekes confirms the morphological analysis and notes the archaic character of the reduplicated present within the Greek system.

Latin reflects the root through several derivative formations rather than a single transparent continuation. The compound facere ("to do, to make"), from *dʰh₁-k-ye/o- (zero-grade with a velar extension), produced a vast family: factum, factor, facilis, -ficium (as in sacrificium, artificium, beneficium), and the causative suffix -ficāre (> English -fy). The simpler formation appears in the -dere verbs: abdere ("to put away"), condĕre ("to found, to store"), crēdere ("to believe," from *ḱred-dʰeh₁-, "to place one's heart"), and possibly addere. Szemerényi (1996) and Sihler (1995) discuss the relationship between these Latin formations and the PIE root in detail.

Sanskrit dádhāti ("puts, places") matches Greek títhēmi in showing the reduplicated present. The derivative dhā́man ("established order, law, dwelling") and the important cultural term dharma (from *dʰr̥-mo- or *dʰer-mo-, though the assignment of dharma to this root versus *dʰer- "to hold" is debated in the literature) illustrate the semantic breadth of the root in Indo-Iranian. Avestan daδāiti confirms the Iranian reflex.

In Germanic, the root yields Old English dōn (Modern English do) and Old High German tuon (Modern German tun), from Proto-Germanic *dōną. The nominal derivative *dēdiz produces Old English dǣd (English deed) and German Tat. Old Church Slavonic děti ("to put, to do") and Lithuanian dė́ti ("to put, to place") continue the Balto-Slavic reflex without significant irregularity. The convergence of "putting" and "doing" in a single root is characteristic of PIE verbal semantics, and the subsequent specialisation in daughter languages — Greek emphasising placement, Latin making, Germanic doing — illustrates how branches select different facets of an originally polysemous root.

Laryngeal Analysis

Contains h₁ (non-colouring).

Ablaut

Full grade *dʰeh₁-, zero grade *dʰh₁-, reduplicated *dʰédʰh₁-.