In my thesis, the correlation between spatial and temporal descriptions of solar movement in Homeric Greek will be investigated, in order to assess whether the temporal FoR was indeed an outgrowth...Show moreIn my thesis, the correlation between spatial and temporal descriptions of solar movement in Homeric Greek will be investigated, in order to assess whether the temporal FoR was indeed an outgrowth of the spatial FoR, as proposed in Bartolotta (2018).Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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The Slavic proto-language was subject to a tendency commonly referred to as the “Opening of Syllables”, which is somehow connected to a number of sound changes that all had an opening effect, e.g....Show moreThe Slavic proto-language was subject to a tendency commonly referred to as the “Opening of Syllables”, which is somehow connected to a number of sound changes that all had an opening effect, e.g. nasalization and loss of various coda consonants. The nature of the phenomenon is not quite understood and no language-internal explanations have proven to be successful. This thesis explores the possibility that the Opening of Syllables was due to contact, specifically with the (unknown) language of the Avars, spoken in and around Pannonia during the Migration Period. In order to find out, the relative and absolute chronology of syllable-opening sound changes is examined and mapped onto the spread of the Slavs and the Avars, and the sound changes themselves are compared to possible phonological traits of Avar. Based on this it is argued that contact with Avar was possibly responsible for only two sound changes (monophthongization and the certain developments of consonant clusters), but that this was not the result of a contact-induced tendency toward open syllables. In general, the Opening of Syllables as a whole was not induced by contact with Avar or with any other language.Show less
An attempt at reconstructing the practice of bird-divination for the speakers of Proto-Indo-European by comparing the terminology for this practice in Greek, Latin and Hittite texts.
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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The question of the genealogical proximity of Italic and Celtic has been an issue in Indo-European linguistics for a long time. Whereas most previous studies have looked at the innovations possibly...Show moreThe question of the genealogical proximity of Italic and Celtic has been an issue in Indo-European linguistics for a long time. Whereas most previous studies have looked at the innovations possibly shared by Italic and Celtic from a Proto-Indo-European perspective, this work takes a more bottom-up approach by attempting to reconstruct (parts of) the Proto-Italo-Celtic language on the basis of the attested linguistic data in both branches’ daughter languages. The areas under focus are Italo-Celtic phonology and verbal morphology. As the Italo-Celtic reconstructions of both of these sub-systems of the language are substantially different for the systems traditionally reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European, I will argue that there is good reason to posit Italo-Celtic as a genetic unit that must have lasted for a substantial amount of time.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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The verbal system of Old Irish is characterized by the existence of two sets of verbal endings, which are used in complementary distribution in a number of moods and tenses inherited from Proto...Show moreThe verbal system of Old Irish is characterized by the existence of two sets of verbal endings, which are used in complementary distribution in a number of moods and tenses inherited from Proto-Indo-European. The distinction between these so-called absolute and conjunct endings is found only in the Celtic branch of Proto-Indo-European, most notably in Old Irish. The PIE origins of the two sets of endings continues to be obscure, although many ideas have been published over the years. The goal of this thesis is to determine which of these scenarios best explains the creation of two sets of verbal endings, through a critical assessment of the most important literature written on this problem in the last century and a half.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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Although most ancient Indo-European languages share the same grammatical three-gender system of masculine, feminine and neuter gender, the lack of a feminine gender in the archaic Anatolian branch...Show moreAlthough most ancient Indo-European languages share the same grammatical three-gender system of masculine, feminine and neuter gender, the lack of a feminine gender in the archaic Anatolian branch suggests that development of this gender is a relatively recent development in "Core PIE". This thesis investigates how such a development may have come about. I analyse the attested functions of the suffixes often connected to the rise of the feminine gender: *-eh2, *-ih2 and *-sor. Moreover, I consider the emergence of the PIE feminine from a typological perspective and compare it to gender developments in other language families. On the basis of morphological and typological considerations, I suggest that not the traditional feminine suffix *-eh2, but rather the "secondary" suffix *-ih2 played a crucial role in the emergence of the PIE feminine gender.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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It has been observed that pre-PIE *d sometimes turns into PIE *h₁, also referred to as the Kortlandt effect, but much is still unclear about the occurrence and nature of this change. In this thesis...Show moreIt has been observed that pre-PIE *d sometimes turns into PIE *h₁, also referred to as the Kortlandt effect, but much is still unclear about the occurrence and nature of this change. In this thesis, I provide an elaborate discussion aimed at establishing the conditions and a phonetic explanation for the development. All words that have thus far been proposed as instances of the *d > *h₁ change will be investigated more closely, leading to the conclusion that the Kortlandt effect is a type of debuccalisation due to dental dissimilation when *d is followed by a consonant. Typological parallels for this type of change, as well as evidence from IE daughter languages, enable us to identify it as a shift from pre-glottalised voiceless stop to glottal stop.Show less
A number of features of the morphosyntactic alignment systems of Indo-European languages suggest that an early stage of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) originally had an ergative case...Show moreA number of features of the morphosyntactic alignment systems of Indo-European languages suggest that an early stage of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) originally had an ergative case-marking system. Opponents of this hypothesis have said that this reconstruction of PIE is typologically impossible, since it does not follow the allegedly universal Silverstein hierarchy, and that PIE thus cannot have been ergative. A concept related to the theory, which may solve the problem that Silverstein’s hierarchy poses, is the hypothesis that this stage of (pre-)PIE had a ‘gap’ in its alignment system: i.e. neuter nouns could not be used as agents of transitive verbs. In my thesis, I weigh the pre-PIE ergativity hypothesis and the ‘neuter agent gap’ against typological data regarding alignment systems and their diachronic development, to see if opponents’ arguments are valid and whether an ergative system and a neuter agent gap can be reconstructed to account for the case-marking systems found in Indo-European languages. I argue that the reconstructed alignment system does not violate Silverstein’s hierarchy, and that an earlier stage of PIE had an ergative system in both common and neuter nouns. Then, I argue that it is not necessary to assume a ‘neuter agent gap’, although a semantic dispreference for neuter agents does help to explain the development of alignment in the Anatolian languages. I then discuss two different hypotheses on what shape the neuter ergative ending may have had, and I will propose for both of them a diachronic pathway along which the Indo-European alignment system may have developed.Show less
The Ancient Greek lexicon contains words that cannot be explained by an Indo-European origin. Many of such words can be explained as loanwords of a Pre-Greek substrate or as Semitic loanwords....Show moreThe Ancient Greek lexicon contains words that cannot be explained by an Indo-European origin. Many of such words can be explained as loanwords of a Pre-Greek substrate or as Semitic loanwords. However, some Greek words seem to originate from a Semitic language, but the morphology and phonology point towards a Pre-Greek origin. To solve this apparent discrepancy, the possibility that Semitic loanwords entered the Greek lexicon via Pre-Greek is examined in this thesis. A sample of fourteen obscure Greek words confirms this hypothesis. The words share semantical and phonological features with equivalent words in Semitic languages, but share phonological and morphological features with Pre-Greek as well. Especially the occurrence of Pre-Greek suffixes that are not present in the Semitic equivalents are strong arguments in favor of this hypothesis. Besides examples of Semitic influence on Pre-Greek, this thesis provides two possible examples of Pre-Greek loanwords in Semitic languages. These findings develop our knowledge of language contact in the Mediterranean region during the Bronze and Iron Age.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
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The Proto-Indo-European long vowels *ē and *ō occupy a remarkable position within the phonemic system. Although these vowels are phonemic, they are limited to very specific morphological categories...Show moreThe Proto-Indo-European long vowels *ē and *ō occupy a remarkable position within the phonemic system. Although these vowels are phonemic, they are limited to very specific morphological categories. This distribution has been explained by several theories, of which there are three which propose a phonetic origin for these long vowels and that nowadays find supported by various scholars, viz. Wackernagel’s lengthening in monosyllables, Szemerényi’s Law, and Kortlandt’s lengthening before word-final resonant. These three theories have in common that they derive the long vowels from their short counterparts *e and *o, whereas they differ from each other in the phonological environments under which the short vowels would have become long. It is, however, still controversial which theory is the most likely to be correct, since all theories have counterexamples. This thesis examines the question which of the three phonetic theories on the origin of the Proto-Indo-European lengthened grade can be proven correct or incorrect. This question will be addressed by discussing the evidence and counterevidence of the nominal system and comparing the counterexamples to the three theories. By attempting to provide alternative explanations for the counterevidence, as well as discussing the strengths and weaknesses of existing alternative explanations, it is possible to examine which theory or theories can be kept up and which one(s) must be rejected. It will be concluded, that monosyllabic lengthening probably works for the nominal system, that Kortlandt’s lengthening before word-final resonant can only work when it is reformulated(i.e. leaving out the nasals as a conditional factor), and that Szemerényi’s Law is best to be given up.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
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
