Indo-European long vowels in Balto-Slavic (original) (raw)
Proto-Indo-European long vowels and Balto-Slavic accentuation
Baltistica 47/2, 5–48., 2012
The article is a critical review of the evidence regarding the reflexes of Proto-Indo-European long vowels in Baltic and Slavic. It is argued that in Balto-Slavic, inherited long vowels receive circumflex intonation in all positions in the word. Examples like Lith. várna ‘raven’, žvėrìs ‘wild animal’ and grė́bti ‘to rake’ that are traditionally thought to show that an Indo-European long vowel obtained acute intonation must be explained differently. A number of verbal roots forming a yod-present can be shown to have undergone metatony rude in Lithuanian and Latvian and metatony douce in Lithuanian. There is no evidence for the thesis that Balto-Slavic monosyllables always had circumflex intonation. Lithuanian examples that would show this development can be shown to be due to inner-Lithuanian innovations. Finally, Balto-Slavic ā-stems and intensive verbs with long vocalism generally have circumflex intonation and can be shown to reflect Proto-Indo-European formations containing a long vowel.
The early chronology of long vowels in Balto-Slavic
The attractiveness of projecting a variety of formations back in time lies in the freedom it allows the investigator to choose between different reconstructions in accordance with his theoretical preconceptions. The history of Indo-European reconstruction can to a large extent be seen as a gradual limitation of this freedom. It is therefore advisable to be cautious when a new theory enlarges rather than restricts the number of possible reconstructions.
1985
According to the traditional doctrine, Ihere are three types of long vowels in Indo-European languages: (1) Full-grade long vowels. These have acute tone in Lithuanian, and also in Greek final syllables, e. g. alga 'salary', άλφή 'gain'. (2) Contracted long vowels. These have circumflex tone in Lithuanian, and also in Greek final syllables, e. g. gen, sg. algös, άλφής. (3) Lengthened grade vowels. These have acute tone in Greek final syllables, e. g. ποιμ,ήν 'shepherd'. It is usually assumed that the circumflex tone of the Lithuanian cognate piemuo is the result of a secondary development. This point of view is not supported by the material. In the following I intend to show that circumflex tone is regulär on lengthened grade vowels in Balto-Slavic. The origin of the lengthened grade has largely been clarified by J. Wackernagel in his Old Indic Grammar [1896, 66-68]. He distinguishes [three categories with seven subdivisions: (a) Secondary nominal derivatives. Wackernagel accepts Streitberg's Suggestion [1894, 380] that lengthened grade in this category arose from analogical extension of lengthened grade in monosyllabic word forms. (b) Roots in monosyllabic nouns, before primary suffixes, in the singular of athematic presents, and in the active s-aorist, e. g.-härd-, härdi 'heart', märsti 'wipes', ajaisam 'conquered'. The long root vowel of these words originated from phonetic lengthening in monosyllabic word forms, e. g. *härd, *jais. (c) Final syllables of nom. sg. and loc. sg. forms of nominal stems in a resonant, e. g. sakhä 'friend', agna 'in fire', both with loss of the formative *-z. Here I assume phonetic lengthening before a word-final resonant and subsequent loss of the resonant. If we want to establish the tonal reflex of lengthened grade in Balto-Slavic, we have to examine what has remained of these categories in Lithuanian, Latvian, and Serbo-Croatian. I think that the following evidence is relevant.
Balto-Slavic phonological developments
Baltistica, 2011
Elsewhere I have proposed the following relative chronology of early sound changes (1989a: 42-47, 2005a: 115-118): (1) Neutralization of the opposition between palatovelars and labiovelars after *u and *s, yielding a palatovelar before *i and a plain velar elsewhere (cf. Steensland 1973: 34, Kortlandt 1979: 58). This development belongs to the Proto-Indo-European period (stages 1.2 and 1.3 of my chronology). (2) Rephonemicization of the opposition between fortes ("voiceless") and lenes ("voiced aspirates") as an opposition between voiceless and (plain) voiced stops. This was a shared innovation of all Indo-European languages except Anatolian and Tocharian and therefore belongs to the dialectal Indo-European period (my stage 2.1). The (lenes) glottalic stops (traditionally called "plain voiced") became preglottalized voiced at this stage (cf. Kortlandt 1978a: 110). (3) Retraction of *s to *ṣ after *i, *u, *r, *k in Balto-Slavic, Albanian, Armenian, and Indo-Iranian. The highly specific character of this sound change points to a common, dialectal Indo-European development (my stage 2.2).
Rise and fall of vowel length in Slavic
My observation that Mate Kapović’s ideas about Slavic accentuation lack a chronological perspective has evoked a furious reaction. Here I limit myself to the five topics that he apparently found most difficult to appreciate: pretonic vowel length, the genitive plural, monosyllabic lengthening, length in medial syllables, and length in Czech monosyllables. In spite of his overwhelming rhetoric, Kapović’s diatribe has not produced any new insights but only revealed the paucity of his conceptual framework. There is no viable alternative to the theory of Slavic accentuation that I proposed 45 years ago.
1983 Proto-Indo-European and North-West Caucasian vowel systems
Given at the first colloquium of the (future) Societas Caucasologica Europaea in Hull in July 1983. Unpublished, though quoted by Norbert E. Collinge, The Laws of Indo-European, 1985, chapter Brugmann's Law. Meanwhile, there are many things that should be added, deleted or altered. Автор: Rémy Viredaz/Реми Вирда