The asterisks mean that it’s a reconstructed word, not an actually attested word. No PIE writing exists, so all these words are deduced from the descendant words across the vast IE family, not recorded as definitely existing.
The numbers are h1, h2 and h3. We know that PIE had three different h-like sounds (pharyngeals). But, funny thing, every single daughter language lost them, so it’s hard to tell exactly what each one sounded like. If you see overlapping ripples in a pond, you can work out roughly where and how many things dropped, but you can’t guess the exact weight or size.
The asterisks mean that it’s a reconstructed word, not an actually attested word. No PIE writing exists, so all these words are deduced from the descendant words across the vast IE family, not recorded as definitely existing.
The numbers are h1, h2 and h3. We know that PIE had three different h-like sounds (pharyngeals). But, funny thing, every single daughter language lost them, so it’s hard to tell exactly what each one sounded like. If you see overlapping ripples in a pond, you can work out roughly where and how many things dropped, but you can’t guess the exact weight or size.