Kerns J.A., Schwartz Benjamin. A sketch of the Indo-European finite verb

E.J. Brill, 1972. — 89 p. — (Monographs on Mediterranean antiquity).This sketch is intended for graduate students and others interested in acquiring an over-all perspective of the IE finite verb as quickly and directly as possible. Since we endorse the concept that Anatolian departed from PIE earlier than the other IE continuants, it will be obvious that we adhere, in the main, to Sturtevant’s Indo-Hittite hypothesis. A preliminary reading of the major text can be followed by an examination of the several appendices in whatever order meets the reader’s interests or requirements. Our summaries are drawn from many excellent sources not always acknowledged in the text. Few, if any, of our explanations are original; the reader will realize that explanations in historical linguistics are largely conjecture, and that often one guess is as good as another. Any such which prove glaringly wrong are probably our own. More or less isolated aberrant forms, like Skt. m.p. fut. pi. i asnuvisydmahe (which Whitney calls ‘monstrous’), can be picked up in texts and vernacular usage in all languages, but the beginner can safely ignore them, interesting as they often are as straws showing which way the wind may be beginning to blow. Our selection of materials, presentation, and methodology, we hope, will meet with constructive criticisms from readers, and we shall gratefully accept whatever is brought to our attention.