Thematic vowel

In Indo-European studies, a thematic vowel or theme vowel is the vowel *e^[1] or *o from ablaut placed before the ending of a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word. Nouns, adjectives, and verbs in the Indo-European languages with this vowel are thematic, and those without it are athematic. Used more generally, a thematic vowel is any vowel found at the end of the stem of a word.

Outside Indo-European, the term "thematic vowel" is also used in the grammar of Kartvelian languages (see Georgian verb paradigm for more information on thematic vowels).

^ The asterisk * indicates that a form is not directly attested, but has been reconstructed on the basis of other linguistic material.

[1] The asterisk * indicates that a form is not directly attested, but has been reconstructed on the basis of other linguistic material.

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