Kortlandt Frederik. Studies in Germanic, Indo-European and Indo-Uralic

Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2010. — XIII + 534 p. — (Leiden Studies in Indo-European 17). — ISBN 978-90-420-3135-7. — E-Book ISBN 978-90-420-3136-4.The red thread which runs through this book is a quest for relative chronology of linguistic developments. The probability of a reconstruction can be judged against the background of the transitions which it implies for the linguistic system as a whole. The reconstructions are always bottom-up, never top-down. It follows that the chapters on Germanic can be read without reference to the Indo-European background and that the Indo-Uralic part of the book can be left out of consideration if one does not want to look beyond Proto-Indo-European. The initial chapters of the book offer an introduction to the background and methodology of the reconstructions with a discussion of the spread of the Indo-Europeans, the role of general linguistics in linguistic reconstruction, the nature of mixed languages, the origin of the Goths, the relations between Indo-European, Uralic and Caucasian languages, and the structure and development of Proto-Indo-European. The following chapters deal with the phonology and morphosyntax of Indo-European, Greek, Indo-Iranian and Tocharian. These are followed by a discussion of Germanic phonology, verb classes, verbal and nominal inflexion, and specific issues in English, German and Scandinavian languages. After a short treatment of Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic and Italo-Celtic topics, the volume is concluded with a discussion of Anatolian and Indo-Uralic phonology and morphosyntax. The book is of interest to students of Germanic, Indo-European and historical linguistics.Preface
Introduction
The spread of the Indo-Europeans
General linguistics and Indo-European reconstruction
On Russenorsk
The origin of the Goths
C.C. Uhlenbeck on Indo-European, Uralic and Caucasian
An outline of Proto-Indo-European
Schleicher's fable
Indo-European Phonology
*H2o and *oH2
Proto-Indo-European glottalic stops: The comparative evidence
Proto-Indo-European tones?
An Indo-European substratum in Slavic?
Indo-European Morphosyntax
1st sg. middle *-H2
Proto-Indo-European verbal syntax
Greek
Greek numerals and Proto-Indo-European glottalic consonants
The Aeolic optative
The Greek 3rd pl. endings
Indo-Iranian
Glottalic consonants in Sindhi and Proto-Indo-European
Archaic ablaut patterns in the Vedic verb
Accent and ablaut in the Vedic verb
The origin of the Indo-Iranian desiderative
Tocharian
On the development of Proto-Indo-European final syllables in Tocharian
The Tocharian word for 'woman'
The fate of the sigmatic aorist in Tocharian
A note on the Tocharian dual
The Tocharian imperfect
Germanic Phonology
Vestjysk stød, Icelandic preaspiration, and PIE glottalic stops
Proto-Germanic obstruents
Kluge's law and the rise of Proto-Germanic geminates
Labials, velars and labiovelars in Germanic
Preaspiration or preglottalization?
Germanic *ē1 and *ē2
Proto-Germanic obstruents and the comparative method
English bottom, German Boden, and the chronology of sound shifts
Germanic Verb Classes
The Germanic first class of weak verbs
The Germanic third class of weak verbs
The Germanic seventh class of strong verbs
The Germanic fifth class of strong verbs
The Germanic sixth class of strong verbs
The Germanic fourth class of weak verbs
Old Norse taka, Gothic tekan, Greek τεταγών
Germanic Verbal Inflexion
The Germanic weak preterit
The Proto-Germanic pluperfect
Germanic Nominal Inflexion
The inflexion of the Indo-European ā-stems in Germanic
The inflexion of the Germanic n-stems
German
Old High German umlaut
The High German consonant shift
The origin of the Franconian tone accents
English
The origin of the Old English dialects
How old is the English glottal stop?
The origin of the Old English dialects revisited
Anglo-Frisian
Scandinavian
The Old Norse i-umlaut
On breaking
Glottalization, preaspiration and gemination in English and Scandinavian
Early Runic consonants and the origin of the younger futhark
Björketorp and Stentoften
The origin of the vestjysk stød
Vestjysk stød again
Albanian
Proto-Indo-European *s in Albanian
Proto-Indo-European *j in Albanian
Reflexes oflndo-European consonants in Albanian
Armenian
Armenian ewł 'oil'
Balto-Slavic
The Baltic word for 'in'
All's well that ends well
Balto-Slavic accentuation revisited
Lithuanian zinoti 'to know'
Italo-Celtic
More on the chronology of Celtic sound changes
Anatolian
Initial laryngeals in Anatolian
Hittite ammuk 'me'
Hittite hi-verbs and the Indo-European perfect
Stative and middle in Hittite and Indo-European
Indo-Uralic
Eight Indo-Uralic verbs?
The Indo-Uralic verb
Nivkh as a Uralo-Siberian language
Indo-Uralic consonant gradation
Indo-Uralic and Altaic
Indo-Uralic and Altaic revisited
Appendix
A parasitological view of non-constructible sets
The origin and nature of the linguistic parasite
References
Index