Indo-European Language and Culture by Fortson Benjamin W

Author:Fortson, Benjamin W.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2011-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

*klep-

klépt ‘I steal’

*-mer-

tmeron ‘today’

*phulak-

phulátt- ‘I guard’

*dus

Zeús ‘Zeus’

*nigw-

níz- ‘I wash’

*tegw-o-

sébomai ‘I worship’

*medhos

mésos ‘middle’

*melit-a

mélitta ‘honey-bee’

*onomn-

onomaín- ‘I name’

*len-a

léaina ‘lioness’

As a side-note concerning English etymology, the Ionic outcome corresponding to Attic -tt- was -ss-, and sometimes English has borrowed the Ionic form of a word rather than an Attic one, such as the name Melissa (‘honey-bee’, vs. Attic mélitta above). Sometimes English borrowed both, as in glossary (Ionic glssa ‘tongue’) but polyglot (Attic gltta).

12.27.In East Greek, including Attic, the change of *t to s happened not just before *, but also before *i, as in the *ti-abstract nouns. These nouns all end in -sis in Greek, whence many English borrowings like basis and prognosis (Gk. básis, prógnsis < PIE *gw-ti-, *(-)h3-ti-). This change is also seen in the 3rd pl. primary ending *-nti, which became first *-nsi; then the n disappeared, compensatorily lengthening the preceding vowel if there was one. Thus the thematic 3rd pl. active ending in Attic is -ousi, as in phér-ousi ‘they carry’ < *pher-onsi < *pher-onti (in Doric, the form is still phéronti).

12.28.The PIE clusters of two dentals (3.36) became st in Greek, as in (w)ístr ‘judge’ < *idtr ‘knower’ (of right and wrong).

Development of the PIE vowels into Greek

12.29. Greek preserves the PIE vowels and diphthongs (including the long diphthongs) more faithfully than any other IE language. Because of this, ablaut is reflected particularly clearly, since the ablauting vowels e and o are kept distinct from one another (in contrast to Indo-Iranian), and o is distinct from a (in contrast to Germanic, Balto-Slavic, and most of Indo-Iranian and Anatolian).

The short vowels are preserved intact in such words as tís ‘who?’ (*kwis), pénte ‘five’ (*penkwe), hgios ‘sacred’ (*Ha-), nóstos ‘homecoming’ (*nos-tos), and gónu ‘knee’ (*onu). The long vowels (whether from original long vowels or from sequences of short vowel plus laryngeal) are preserved in such words as ós ‘poison’ (*s-o- or *iHs-o-), patr ‘father’ (*ph2tr), Doric hdús ‘sweet’ (*sdú- < *seh2du-), kús ‘swift’ (*ús), and ikhths ‘fish’ (*hdhs or *hdhuHs).

The one characteristic point on which Attic-Ionic innovated is in the treatment of *, which frequently became in this dialect group (e.g. mtr ‘mother’ vs. Doric mtr). In Ionic this change happened across the board, while in Attic it did not affect * after the sounds e, i, or r (hence Ionic nenís ‘young man’ and hr ‘season’ but Attic nenís, hr).

Diphthongs

12.30. Both short and long diphthongs are faithfully preserved in Greek: *ei *ai *oi in leíp ‘I leave’ (*leikw-), lai(w)ós ‘left’ (*laios), and léloipa ‘I left’ (*le-loikw-); and *eu *au *ou in rhema ‘stream’ (*sreu-m), haos ‘dry’ (*saus-o-), and akou ‘I hear’ (*h2kous-). By the fifth century BC, the diphthongs ei and ou had been monophthongized to [e] and [o], long vowels that already existed in the language because they had arisen from certain vowel contractions and other changes. (The spellings ei and ou for [e] and [o] are therefore often called “spurious diphthongs,” as we saw in 12.12.)

Long diphthongs are continued in such forms as the dative singular of o-stems like anthrp-i ‘for the man’.

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