Indo-European Languages PDF

Introduction: - English is the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish - English is the official language of almost 60 states, the European Union, and many world organizations. Periodization: Proto-Indo-European =================== **Larges...

Introduction: - English is the third most common native language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish - English is the official language of almost 60 states, the European Union, and many world organizations. Periodization: Proto-Indo-European =================== **Largest language families:** - Indo-european -- over 3 bil speakers (over 400 languages and dialects) - Sino-Tibetan 1.6Bil - Niger-Congo - Afro-Asiatic - Austronesian **History:** **16^th^ -- 18^th^ century** -\> observations between Indo-European languages made by travellers, missionaries, scholars but did not become widely recognized **Sir William Jones** -\> British orientalist, started research in comparative linguistics, drew attention to similarities between Sanskrit, classical Greek and Latin\ - his lecture "The Sanskrit Language" in 1786 he suggested that all three languages developed from a common source (the PIE) **19th century**-\> intensive research in comparative linguistics (Franz Bopp, August Schleicher, Rasmus Rask...) **20^th^ and 21^st^ century** -\> discovery of new branches of IE language family **the Kurgan hypothesis** -\> the Proto-Indo-Europeans lived in the Pontic-Caspian steppe of Eastern Europe in the 4th millennium BC. Their language, Proto-Indo-European, probably split into different languages around 3 500 BC, when the Proto-Indo-Europeans expanded from their original settlement into different parts of Europe and Asia. no written records of Proto-Indo-European **Branches of Indo-European languages:** 1. Anatolian (extinct) located in Asia Minor 2. Tocharian (extinct) -- both discovered recently, China (20^TH^ century) 3. Germanic (emerged around 3300BC)................... - All the languages are genetically related since they are all descendants of one parent language (PIE) - A grey and yellow table with red text Description automatically generated Indo-European languages are traditionally divided into centum and satem languages according to the development of the palatal plosives. **Centum and Satem languages:** both words mean hundred **Centum = /kentum/ in Latin** (these are English and all Germanic langs, Anatolian, Tocharian, Celtic, Italic, Hellenic)**\ satem = /satem/ Old Iranian/Avestan** (Balto-Slavic, Armenian, Indo-Iranian, Albanian) Centum language -\> palatal plosives merged with velar plosives -- palatal k´ changed into k Satem -\> palatal plosives changed into sibilants - palatal k´ changed into s Non-IE languages spoken in Europe - Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Maltese Before the 16th century, Indo-European languages were located in Europe, and South, Central and Southwest Asia. Today, they are distributed worldwide  Main grammatical features of the Proto-Indo-European language ------------------------------------------------------------- - **Synthetic language** with **a rich inflectional morphology** - (a large number of different inflectional paradigms) - Most words consisted of three parts: **root + stem suffix + ending\ **[root + stem suffix = **stem**... stem suffix = **theme**] **⇒** **thematic and athematic** nouns and verbs (athematic words belong to the oldest word, stock-ending is attached directly to the root) **Nouns:\ **8-9 cases; thematic and athematic declension; a large number of paradigms\ three genders - masculine, feminine, and neuter\ numbers were singular, plural, dual - **Nominative** (subject of a sentence), - **Accusative** (direct object), - **Genitive** (possession), - **Dative** (indirect object), - **Ablative** (movement away from something), - **Locative** (location), - **Instrumental** (means by which an action is carried out), - **Vocative** (used to address someone directly). **Pronouns**: - marked for **case, gender, and number** - There were three persons (first, second, and third) and three numbers (singular, dual, and plural). - Had unique forms in each case **Verbs:** - PIE verbs were highly inflected and complex, marked for tense, mood, aspect, voice, person, and number.**\ **classification according to aspect: **stative, imperfective, and perfective** - verbal grammatical system best preserved in Ancient Greek and Vedic Sanskrit - Verbal conjugation paradigms included a variety of endings and were subject to ablaut - Vowel gradation in the root of the word -- ablaut and umlaut **Ablaut System** - The **ablaut** (**vowel gradation**) system in PIE was central to its grammar. Ablaut involved systematic changes in vowel sounds within the root of a word to convey different grammatical or derivational meanings. - predictable shifts between vowels - used to mark grammatical distinctions such as tense, mood, or aspect in verbs and also created noun forms - the alternation of vowels in inflectional forms of the same word (sing, sang, sung) **Umlaut** (Vowel Harmony or Mutation) - arises later in individual Indo-European languages - It involves the influence of a vowel (usually in a suffix or ending) on a preceding vowel, causing it to change - especially characteristic of the Germanic languages - in Old English, umlaut produced plural forms or new derivational forms by shifting vowels - man vs men, foot vs feet **Syntax** = - PIE likely had a relatively flexible word order, although **subject-object-verb (SOV)** order is generally considered the default. - Case markings on nouns allowed for flexibility in word order Proto-Germanic ============== A screenshot of a computer screen Description automatically generated - **The common ancestor of Germanic languages** - Proto-Germanic = Primitive Germanic, Common Germanic, Ur-Germanic - No written records of proto-germanic, the only ones are: **Vimose inscriptions** - around 200 AD, found in Denmark\ - early stage of Proto-Norse or Late Proto-Germanic - **First Germanic Sound Shift - Grimm's law** (named after Jacob Grimm)**\ -** distinguishes Germanic languages from other Indo-European centum languages\ - a related shift - Verner's law - It came after the First Germanic Sound Shift, which was probably contemporary with the Nordic Bronze Age. **Main grammatical features of Proto-Germanic** **1.**The reconstructed Proto-Germanic **grammatical system** resembled the grammatical systems of Greek or Latin of about 200 AD. It included: - six (or more) cases - three numbers (Singular, Plural, Dual) - three genders (Masculine, Feminine, Neuter) - two voices (active, passive) - three moods (Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative) **Nouns:** **Morphological features** - root + stem suffix + ending - root + stem suffix = stem - stem suffix = theme - thematic and athematic nouns and verbs **Inflectional system of nouns:** these cases were distinguished - nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, and instrumental (**the PIE ablative and locative cases merged into other cases \> prepositional forms, dative**) but preserved in pronominal and adverbial forms - paradigms distinguished according to stems inherited from PIE - a-stems, ō-stems, n-stems, u-stems, i-stems -\> **most productive paradigms** - in addition, there were several smaller classes of nouns: athematic nouns (root nouns), and nouns ending in -er, -z, and -nd. - The nominal inflectional system included paradigms distinguished according to stems inherited from Proto-Indo-European **Pronouns:** - **Pronominal declension -** same cases as nouns except the vocative - singular, plural and dual forms (verbal, nominal and adjectival dual forms, disappeared) Verbs: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **1.Inflectional system of verbs** - Proto-Germanic verbs can be divided into a small group of athematic verbs (4) and a large group of thematic verbs - Thematic verbs were further divided into [seven classes of strong] and [five classes of weak verbs,] according to their preterite forms - Strong verbs formed the preterite form by means of ablaut or reduplication - Weak verbs - a dental suffix was added to the root of the verb\ both strong and weak are thematic **2.Tense**: - two tenses: present and preterite - in Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit - six or seven different tenses **What are thematic verbs?** Thematic verbs in Proto-Germanic are regular verbs that have a vowel (called a \"theme vowel\") that connects the verb root to its endings. For example, they follow predictable patterns for how they change in different tenses like present or past. **What are preterite-present verbs?** Preterite-present verbs are a special group of verbs in Proto-Germanic. Their present tense forms *look and act like* the past tense (preterite) forms of strong verbs. Strong verbs are the ones that change their vowel to show tense (like \"sing\" becoming \"sang\" in English). - **How do they form the past tense (preterite)?** To form the past tense, preterite-present verbs act like weak verbs. Weak verbs are the ones that add endings to form the past (like \"love\" becoming \"loved\" in English). Strong verbs = sing -- sang\ weak verbs -- love - loved [**Preterite-present verbs** ] - originally indicated past (or perfect) actions in PIE but came to be used as present-tense forms in Proto-Germanic. - verbs like *can*, *shall*, *may*, and *must* descend from these preterite-present verbs Their present tense acts like the past tense of strong verbs.\ Their past tense (preterite) is formed like weak verbs, by adding regular endings. Or by creating new weak forms **Example**: Imagine if, in English, the verb \"sang\" (the past tense of \"sing\") started being used as its own present tense verb: \"I sang\" now means \"I know.\" Then, to say its past tense, you\'d add \"-ed\" like a regular verb: \"I sanged.\" 16.10.2024 Sound changes from Proto-Indo-European To Proto-Germanic and Old English ======================================================================== Proto-Indo-European system of consonants  - Other consonants: voiceless spirant s\ liquids l, r\ nasals m, n\ semivowels j, w - consonants changes -\> Grimm´s law = **first Germanic sound shift** = a change in consonants from proto-indo-european to proto-germanic - Shift = a chain shift of Proto-Indo-European stops which took place between the Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Germanic stage of development and which distinguishes Germanic languages from other Indo-European centum languages. Grimm's Law describes three main shifts in consonant sounds, each step turning a certain group of consonants into a \"softer\" or less forceful sound. - Three consecutive phases which are linked together: \(1) PIE voiceless stops transformed into voiceless fricatives (spirants) \(2) PIE unaspirated voiced stops transformed into unaspirated voiceless stops \(3) PIE aspirated voiced stops transformed into unaspirated voiced fricatives (spirants) - **Push or Pull Chain** (1-2-3 or 3-2-1) A table with text and symbols Description automatically generated Examples: p \> f: lat. piscis \> OE fisc ("fish") t \> þ: lat. trēs \> OE þrī ("three") kw \> xw: PIE kwód \> OE hwæt ("what") b \> p: lat. labium \> OE lippa ("lip") - Scholars thought there were some exceptions in the Grimm´s law so: Consonant changes: **Verner's Law**: voiceless fricatives gained voice if they are preceded by an unstressed vowel f \> ᵬ \[v\] þ \> ᵭ \[ð\] χ \> ʒ χ^w^ \> ʒ^w^ ^\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_^ Ex: pa**t**e**r** = P sa zmení na f podla Grimms law, ale t sa zmení podla Verners law na th = **f**a**th**er **From Proto-Germanic to Old English** **Palatalization** = a sound change that occurred as Proto-Germanic developed into Old English\ = It involves certain consonants being pronounced closer to the hard palate (the roof of the mouth), creating a more \"y\"-like or \"ch\"-like sound\ = **velar consonants** (like *k*, *g*, and *ɣ*) = **\[k\]** → became **\[tʃ\]** (like in *church*) or **\[c\]** (a palatal *k* sound). = **\[g\]** → became **\[j\]** (in *yes*) or **\[dʒ\]** (in *judge*). Napr. Dagaz (PG) -\> dæy (OE) = **\[ɣ\]** (a voiced back fricative) → often became **\[j\]** or disappeared in certain environments ʒ -\> ʒ in a velar surrounding (daʒum) ʒ -\> ġ \[j\] in a palatal surrounding (ġear, eġe, dæġ) X ʒ -\> g in initial positions, after n, in gemination (gān, Englaland, dogga) ʒ -\> χ in final positions in a non-palatal surrounding (hēāg) c \> ċ in a palatal surrounding (ċild, ċēōsan, ċeorl X cyning, curon) sc \> sċ in all positions (fisċ, sċip) 23.10.2024 Old English: Historical Background ================================== Videos: How did English evolve? - year 400 C.E. -\> the **Celts in Britain** were ruled by **Romans** (one benefit for the Celts: The Romans protected them from the barbarian [Saxon tribes of Northern Europe)] - Roman Empire begins to crumble, and the Romans left Britain -\> the Germanic tribes (the **Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians**) formed kingdoms in the British Isles - their Germanic language, **Anglo Saxon**, became the common language, what we call **Old English**. - in the **700\'s** -\>a series of Viking invasions began, which continued until **a treaty** split the island in half (on one side were the **Saxons**, on the other side were the **Danes** who spoke a language called **Old Norse**) - Old Norse mixed with Old English (old norse words = freckle, skin, want, root) - **In 1066** -\> **the Norman conquest** brought war again to the British Isles: The Normans were Vikings who settled in France, they had abandoned the Viking language and culture - They placed a Norman king on the English throne - for three centuries, **French** was the language of the British royalty - [Society in Britain divided two levels:] **French-speaking aristocracy** **and Old English-speaking peasants** - The clergymen also added **Latin** words - Words like council, marriage, government, damage - If people wanted to sound sophisticated = learn the language of French and Latin - Hearty welcome vs cordial reception - William the Conqueror became **King of England** after the death of **King Harold II (Harold Godwinson)** at the **Battle of Hastings** on **October 14, 1066**. - By 410 Romans abandon Britannia or are driven out - Anglo-Saxon tribes begin to arrive and establish settlements - **The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy\*** (600 AD): Essex, Sussex, Wessex, Kent, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria - **Spread of Christianity** (6th -- 8th centuries):\ Gregorian mission - St. Augustine of Canterbury 597 Hiberno-Scottish mission - Gaelic (Celtic) missionaries from Ireland) 6th and 7th centuries - Vikings & The House of Wessex - Alfred the Great, king of West Saxon (871--899) - Old English texts: **Beowulf** (composed around y.1000), **Cædmon's Hymn** (The oldest preserved poem in English Late 7^th^ century) **Anglo-Saxon Chronicle** (?dohladaj)\ **Homilies of Wulfstan** (Homily: a religious sermon, interpretation of a biblical text) Grammatical System of Old English Nouns and Pronouns ---------------------------------------------------- General remarks: - Synthetic language: syntactic relations expressed by grammatical endings; in nouns materialised in cases - **Four distinct cases**:\ Nominative: subject, address\ Genitive: possession\ Dative: indirect object, prepositional phrase, locative, temporal,...\ Accusative: direct object, adverbial, prepositional phrase\ (Instrumental): instrument with which something is achieved; falling out of use (merging with dative) (Only pronouns and strong adjectives retained distinct forms.) - **Gender**: grammatically determined:\ Masculine, Feminine, Neuter\ - Correspondence in demonstratives, adjectives, and pronouns\ - In pronouns a move to natural gender (mǣden 'maiden' neuter, but referred to as hēō 'she')\ - 45% masculine; 30% feminine; 25% neuter - **Number**: Plural and Singular forms; Indo-European dual remained only in pronouns The declension types are based on the Proto-Germanic themes; - e.g. dæġ (day) is A-stem (PG daʒ-a-z), talu (tale) is O-stem - (PG tal-ō), fōt athematic (PG fōt-s; no theme) - **Declension Types:** [Vocalic Stems] = strong declension, based on Proto-germanic vocalic themes, A O U stems\ [Consonantal stems] = weak declension, \--//\--consonantal themes, N stem\ [athematic nouns]: endings affixed directly to the root ( in P-G), basis for irregular plurals in Modern English\ [productivity]: Productive stems attracted nouns taken over from Latin and Greek and from the other paradigms, Over 50 paradigms; merging **A-stems**  **O-stems** A table with different colored squares Description automatically generated **U-stems**  **N-stems (weak nouns)** Athematic nouns: foot (fot), book (boc)  Final test: recognize case and number in old English sentences **Pronouns:** Grammatical system of OE: Verbs =============================== - Verbs were 3 groups: weak, strong, athematic and present preterite **Thematic and athematic verbs** - In thematic verbs, the ending is added to the stem suffix - in athematic verbs, it is added directly to the root - Although **athematic** verbs and nouns are historically **older** than thematic verbs and nouns, they are very **limited** as to number. - There were only **four athematic verbs** in Old English: bēōn/wesan = 'be', dōn '= do', gān = 'go', and willan = 'will' **Strong and weak verbs** - **Weak verbs** (divided into classes 1--3) = denoted as regular or consonantal verbs. They contain a **dental suffix** (-d or -t) in the preterite (e.g. dēman 'to decide' -- dēm-de) - the **strong verbs** (divided into classes I--VII) = irregular or vocalic verbs\ form the preterite by means of **changes in the root vowel** (e.g. bītan 'to bite' -- bāt). - **Strong verbs were primary verbs** because they were formed from roots whose meaning was verbal - while **weak verbs were secondary verbs**, i.e. later formations derived from nouns and adjectives or even strong verbs - **Weak verbs were the most productive conjugation** **type** in Old English: nearly all verbs which were formed or adopted in the Old English period were conjugated weak. - **7 classes of strong verbs**: based on ablaut. **Ablaut** was the result of **shifts of word stress** within Proto-Indo-European verbal paradigms. Ablaut is the main feature of the conjugation of Old English classes I--VI. Class VII is based on a different principle, the principle of **reduplication** Preterite-present verbs - The preterite-present verbs combine the forms of the strong and the weak preterites. - - Example: deman = to judge  A diagram of a graph Description automatically generated with medium confidence - There are only 4 athematic verbs, the oldest verbs - **Possible correspondence between OE and Modern E:** Weak verbs = regular verbs ( þencan 'think', seċġan 'say') Strong verbs = irregular verbs (helpan 'help') Preterite-Present verbs = modals (witan 'know') Athematic verbs = auxiliaries - 75% of thematic verbs were strong and 25% were strong Class 1: fremman 'to perform', dēman 'to judge', temman 'to tame' Class 2: ending in --ian (except for --rian); sīðian 'to journey'; lufian 'to love' Class 3: only four verbs in the Old English period: habban 'have', libban 'live', seċġan 'say', hyċġan 'think, study' (we do not need to distinguish between verb classes, distinguish between weak and strong)  a. Thematic verbs STRONG - The preterite formed by changes in the root vowel - **ablaut** - "irregular" verbs - Primary verbs: formed from root the meanings of which were verbal - Ex.: bitan -- bāt 'bite' - **Conjugation of strong verbs**: 7 classes, classes 1-5= based on qualitative ablaut (e/o gradation), class 6 = quantitative ablaut, class 7 = the remaining cases, reduplication - Umlaut is present in all classes, 2^nd^ and 3^rd^ person sg. **Ablaut and umlaut** Ablaut = for verbs - A systematic change in the root vowel, usually indicating a grammatical function - Common to all Indo-European languages - English: Sing \> sang \> sung + song - Czech:\ přát \> přeju, chodit \> chůze \> zacházet, jezdit \> jízda Umlaut = for nouns, following sounds influence - i-mutation, a-mutation, u-mutation - A change in the root vowel which is conditioned by an i/j, a, or u in the following syllable - Lost = difficult to differentiate between umalut and ablaut nowadays - Specific to Germanic languages - Foot \> feet (P-G: \*fōts \> fōtiz), helpan \> hilpst (P-G: \*helpaną \> hilpizi) -both are about changes in vowels ***The Indo-European Connection*** - *Migration, Proto-Indo-European split into many languages which then created the PIE family* - *Indo-European languages can be divided into:\ **The Centum languages** = Centum is 100 in Latin\ **and the Satem Languages** = Satem is 100 in Avestan (Old Iranian lang)\ PIE had a palatalised "K" sound, which in Centum langs was /k/, but in Satem became a sibiblant sound /s/\ kund vs cent* Slovíčka:\ **strong**:\ measure = metan\ bind = bindan\ take = niman\ call = hātan\ beat = bēātan\ choose = ċēōsan\ bear, carry, bring = beran **Weak**: **Class 1**: fremman 'to perform', dēman 'to judge/decide', temman 'to tame' **Class 2:** ending in --ian (except for --rian); sīðian 'to journey'; lufian 'to love' **Class 3**: only four verbs in the Old English period:\ habban 'have', libban 'live', seċġan 'say', hyċġan 'think, study'