Written forms of nearly all the oral presentations are among the 35 papers, which cover a wide range of issues and questions regarding verbs in Paleo-Indo-European and the oldest languages in the fami
This work gives a critical survey of all verbs attested in Proto-Iranian based on its descendants. It is accompanied by a critical analysis of the morphology and provenance
Ablaut—the grammatically conditioned vowel alternations found, for example, in the English verb “sing” (sing, sang, sung)—is one of the most characteristic features of the Indo-European languages. Ind
Situated at the crossroads of comparative philology, classics and general historical linguistics, this study is the first ever attempt to outline in full the developments which led from the remotest recoverable stages of the Indo-European proto-language to the complex verbal system encountered in Homer and other early Greek texts. By combining the methods of comparative and internal reconstruction with a careful examination of large collections of primary data and insights gained from the study of language change and linguistic typology, Andreas Willi uncovers the deeper reasons behind many surface irregularities and offers a new understanding of how categories such as aspect, tense and voice interact. Drawing upon evidence from all major branches of Indo-European, and providing exhaustive critical coverage of scholarly debate on the most controversial issues, this book will be an essential reference tool for anyone seeking orientation in this burgeoning but increasingly fragmented are
Situated at the crossroads of comparative philology, classics and general historical linguistics, this study is the first ever attempt to outline in full the developments which led from the remotest recoverable stages of the Indo-European proto-language to the complex verbal system encountered in Homer and other early Greek texts. By combining the methods of comparative and internal reconstruction with a careful examination of large collections of primary data and insights gained from the study of language change and linguistic typology, Andreas Willi uncovers the deeper reasons behind many surface irregularities and offers a new understanding of how categories such as aspect, tense and voice interact. Drawing upon evidence from all major branches of Indo-European, and providing exhaustive critical coverage of scholarly debate on the most controversial issues, this book will be an essential reference tool for anyone seeking orientation in this burgeoning but increasingly fragmented are
Germanic - one of the largest sub-groups of the Indo-European language family - comprises 37 languages with an estimated 470 million speakers worldwide. This book presents a comparative linguistic survey of the full range of Germanic languages, both ancient and modern, including major world languages such as English and German (West Germanic), the Scandinavian (North Germanic) languages, and the extinct East Germanic languages. Unlike previous studies, it does not take a chronological or a language-by-language approach, organized instead around linguistic constructions and subsystems. Considering dialects alongside standard varieties, it provides a detailed account of topics such as case, word formation, sound systems, vowel length, syllable structure, the noun phrase, the verb phrase, the expression of tense and mood, and the syntax of the clause. Authoritative and comprehensive, this much-needed survey will be welcomed by scholars and students of the Germanic languages, as well as li
A founding text of comparative philology, Franz Bopp's Vergleichende Grammatik was originally published in parts, beginning in 1833, and by the 1870s had appeared in three editions in German, as well as in English and French translations. Bopp (1791–1867), Professor of Sanskrit at Berlin, set out to prove the relationships between Indo-European languages through detailed description of the grammatical features of Sanskrit compared to those of Zend (Avestan), Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Gothic and German. This translation (1845–50) of Bopp's first edition gave English-speaking scholars access to his important findings. Translated by Edward Backhouse Eastwick (1814–1883), the multi-lingual diplomat and scholar, and edited by Horace Hayman Wilson (1786–1860), Professor of Sanskrit at Oxford, this work testifies both to Bopp's magisterial research and to Eastwick's extraordinary skill in translation. This volume continues Bopp's treatment of the verb, and discusses word formation.
Karl Brugmann originally intended to include a volume on syntax in his comparative grammar of Indo-European, but as that ambitious project expanded, he and his publisher enlisted Berthold Delbrück (1842–1922) to take on the treatment of syntax. Delbrück's three volumes on inflection and phrase and sentence structure appeared between 1893 and 1900 and remain the fullest treatment of Indo-European syntax to this day. His second volume, published in 1897, is devoted to the verb. Delbrück, while referring to work by other linguists, largely relies on his own research. He pays particular attention to Greek and Sanskrit, but also discusses other sub-families including Germanic, Italic and Slavic. The volume provides thorough coverage of tense, mood, infinitives and participles.
Hermann Alfred Hirt (1865–1936) taught Greek, Latin and early Germanic languages at Leipzig University from 1892 to 1912 before moving to the chair of Sanskrit and comparative linguistics at Giessen. Born around the time when Bopp and Schleicher were publishing their ground-breaking work on Indo-European, and a young man when Brugmann published his monumental comparative grammar (all available in this series), Hirt began this seven-volume grammar in the 1920s soon after the exciting discovery of Tocharian and the decipherment of Hittite. The project arose out of his extensive research on the historical phonology of Indo-European vowels, which led him to consider much wider issues. Volume 4 (1928) covers the verb, as well as compounds and reduplication. Hirt's curiosity about the origins and development of Indo-European is evident throughout, leading him to propose two layers (older and more recent) of strong verbs.
