My thesis treated the lemmas hasta ‘spear’, vastus ‘vast, desolate’, aestās ‘summer’, ‑us ‘heat’, custōs ‘guard’, cēdō ‘to go, cede’, crēdō ‘to believe’, and audiō ‘to hear, understand’. Three...Show moreMy thesis treated the lemmas hasta ‘spear’, vastus ‘vast, desolate’, aestās ‘summer’, ‑us ‘heat’, custōs ‘guard’, cēdō ‘to go, cede’, crēdō ‘to believe’, and audiō ‘to hear, understand’. Three reflexes of dental clusters in Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *dh are recognized in Latin: A) ‑ss‑ (iussus < PIE *Hi̯ou̯dh‑to‑); B) ‑st‑ (hasta < PIE *ǵhasdh‑eh2‑); C) ‑V̄d‑ (crēdere < PIE *ḱred‑dhh1‑). The question arises what the distribution is of these reflexes. Cluster A) confirms the usual development of dental clusters ending in *t in Latin (clusters in PIE show an epenthetic *‑s‑, thus *‑TT‑ > *‑TsT‑). Clusters B) and C) are both claimed to be the outcomes of clusters ending in *‑(z)dh‑. However, this was questioned by Lubotsky (2004), who argued that the etymology of the B) clusters either points at a non-PIE origin, or that they underwent a later reanalysis. Szemerényi (1952) claims that the development of ‑st‑ argues for a medial devoicing and that PIE voiced aspirates first lost voicing in Latin (thus, 1) *dh‑ > *th‑ > *þ‑ > f‑, and medially *‑dh‑ > *‑þ‑ > *‑ð‑ > ‑d‑ (cf. Ascoli 1868). However, if the cluster in question does not yield ‑st‑, but rather ‑V̄d‑, Szemerényi’s claim will lose its strength. If so, the loss of occlusion (thus, a trajectory like 2) *dh‑ > *ð‑ > *β‑ > f‑, and medially *‑dh‑ > *‑ð‑ > ‑d‑ (e.g. Hartmann 1890; Rix 1957; Kortlandt 1978, p. 109) will be a more likely development. Although there is more evidence for 2) (e.g the formīca (βormīkā < *mormīkā‑ < PIE *moru̯‑o/ī̆‑ ‘ant’) argument by Meillet 1918), Szemerényi’s argument for 1) cannot be ignored. I looked into the probability of the reconstruction of the lemmas. Since Szemerényi, many new insights have surfaced on the lemmas in question. My survey showed that the evidence is much more in favour of an outcome of ‑V̄d‑, rather than ‑st‑.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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Inquiry into the formal and functional development of the Latin nominal suffix -ēla, including a collection of all relevant literary forms. First, it contains an overview of existing scholarship on...Show moreInquiry into the formal and functional development of the Latin nominal suffix -ēla, including a collection of all relevant literary forms. First, it contains an overview of existing scholarship on -ēla. Secondly, a descriptive account is given of -ēla's synchronic features, most notably its distribution throughout Latinity, its various morphological bases and its semantics. Thirdly, an explanation is sought for three distinct unsolved problems. For the first, -ēla's spelling alternation with -ella, a specific scenario entailing confusion with the the diminutive suffix -ellus is defended. Regarding the question whether the suffix is originally deverbal or denominal, an original deverbal character for -ēla is defended. Lastly, two distinct origins for -ēla are proposed. On the one hand, an inner-Latin source is put forward, establishing a connection between -ēla and the pre-Latin suffix *-slo-/-sla-. On the other hand, comparison with the Greek suffix -ωλή allows for the consideration of PIE origins for -ēla.Show less
The thesis aims to make up for part of the lack of a West Frisian etymological dictionary. It contains 37 lemmas with thorough historical linguistic treatments. A lemma consists of a West Frisian...Show moreThe thesis aims to make up for part of the lack of a West Frisian etymological dictionary. It contains 37 lemmas with thorough historical linguistic treatments. A lemma consists of a West Frisian word from the standard language, a collection of its regional and dialectal variants, its cognates in the other branches of Frisian, Germanic and Indo-European, a discussion of the relevant historical developments in phonology, morphology and semantics (focusing especially on the developments from Proto-Germanic to West Frisian), as well as of the ultimate etymology, and finally some relevant references. The words were selected from the semantic category of farming, including both agriculture and livestock breeding, which has been a prominent feature of Frisian life for centuries. The appertaining vocabulary has a long Frisian history as well, and is therefore well-suited both to illustrate and to refine our understanding of the linguistic history of Frisian.Show less
The Hittite verbal system has two inflections: There is a division in active and medio-passive verbal forms. Although most Hittite verbs either contain forms of both inflections with a clear...Show moreThe Hittite verbal system has two inflections: There is a division in active and medio-passive verbal forms. Although most Hittite verbs either contain forms of both inflections with a clear distinction between them in function, or they are activa or media tantum, the forms of the verb paḫš-a(ri)/i however occur in both inflections and seem to lack a clear distinction between these two inflections. Many scholars have stumbled over this verb and the statements about it in the dictionaries vary widely. Puhvel states in his Hittite Etymological Dictionary (1984) that there are some old traces of old vassal treaties attested, but the sources he names as examples are from the youngest period of Hittite. Besides, it is still strange that some forms are always inflected in the active inflection, while some forms are always in the medio-passive inflection and never in the active one. In this MA thesis I will try to answer the question what exactly determines whether an active or a medio-passive form of paḫš-a(ri)/i is used, after providing a more general introduction to inflections and their functions in Indo-European and in Hittite. To be able to find an answer, it is necessary to first investigate which forms of paḫš-a(ri)/i are attested in different text periods of Hittite, after having designate the usable data. It is important to look whether the active and medio-passive forms occur in all Hittite periods or whether there is a chronological division visible. Secondly, I will look whether there are Hittite texts found in which both active and medio-passive forms of paḫš-a(ri)/i occur and look at the context to see whether I could assign a distinction in function between the two inflections.Show less
