The book may be seen as an update to the verb entries of the Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (IEW) by Julius Pokorny.

It was the first dictionary fully utilizing the modern three-laryngeal theory with reconstructions of Indo-European verbal roots.

The authors of the LIV assume a dichotomy between telic verbs (terminated: for example, *leh₂p- 'to light up') and atelic verbs (ongoing: for example, *bʰeh₂- 'to shine') in early stages of Proto-Indo-European.

Before the daughter languages split off, aspect emerged as a new grammatical category.

This hypothesis is used to explain various phenomena: In addition to the present and the aorist, the following aspects are assumed: The lexical part contains for each verbal root The book includes