Attested in cuneiform, hieroglyphic and alphabetic texts dating to the first two millennia BCE, the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family is intriguing already by itself. But... Show moreAttested in cuneiform, hieroglyphic and alphabetic texts dating to the first two millennia BCE, the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family is intriguing already by itself. But Anatolian is also of central importance for the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European, the last common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Not only is it the earliest attested branch, it has also long been suspected that Anatolian reflects an earlier stage of the proto-language than that underlying the rest of the family.Focusing on the three best-attested Anatolian languages, Hittite, Luwian and Lycian, this book aims to further our understanding of Anatolian, and by extension Proto-Indo-European, by offering in-depth analyses of essential issues in Anatolian historical morphology and semantics. Various well-known as well as several newly adduced topics are scrutinized to determine whether the innovations leading to the discrepancies with the rest of Indo-European took place on the Anatolian or on the non-Anatolian side.The present study suggests that Anatolian is in many respects closer to the ancestor of the other Indo-European languages than is often claimed. Nevertheless, the investigation has also led to new evidence in favor of the hypothesis that Anatolian was the first branch to split off from the family. Show less
Tocharian is the name given to two closely related Indo-European languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B, known from manuscripts discovered in the Tarim basin. Despite its late attestation,... Show moreTocharian is the name given to two closely related Indo-European languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B, known from manuscripts discovered in the Tarim basin. Despite its late attestation, Tocharian has proved to be archaic, particularly in some sections of the morphology. However, the exact relationship of Tocharian with the other Indo-European branches remains an unresolved issue. The problem is that a strong impact of language contact and internal drift has resulted in an intricate combination of archaisms and innovations that are often difficult to be disentangle.Examining the category of gender, this thesis contributes to the investigation of archaisms and innovations in Tocharian nominal morphology. It aims at providing a comprehensive treatment of the Tocharian gender system, describing how it historically derived from the Indo-European proto-language and why it typologically deviates from most of the other Indo-European languages. Show less
In the late 1950s, a number of manuscripts were discovered in Odisha. They contained one of the oldest collections of Vedic texts, the Atharvaveda, dating to the late second millenium BC, in a... Show moreIn the late 1950s, a number of manuscripts were discovered in Odisha. They contained one of the oldest collections of Vedic texts, the Atharvaveda, dating to the late second millenium BC, in a recension, the Paippalāda, that was thought to have survived only in a very corrupt Kashmirian manuscript. Given the importance and antiquity of the text, this discovery sparked the enthusiasm of Indologists, historians, anthropologists and linguists eager to dive into the new material. This, however, hinged on the production of a philologically reliable edition of the text. Selva’s dissertation is a further step in this direction: it focuses on the 17th book of the collection, containing a variety of material in both poetry and prose: magical spells to exorcise demons who threaten women and children, curses against enemies, and remedies against nightmares. One section illustrates a ritual observance consisting in the imitation of the behaviour of a bull, a practice that can be traced back to prehistoric Indo-European cultural models and that was re-elaborated by the Pāśupatas, the earliest-known ascetic sect devoted to the god Śiva. The edition is equipped with a critical apparatus, a translation and a commentary that discusess philological problems and attempts at an interpretation. Show less
Ancient Greek was spoken in a large number of dialectal varieties, and is attested in both literary and epigraphic sources. Although none of these sources offers direct evidence for syllabic... Show moreAncient Greek was spoken in a large number of dialectal varieties, and is attested in both literary and epigraphic sources. Although none of these sources offers direct evidence for syllabic liquids, it is known that these sounds must have been present in Proto-Greek, the common pre-stage of these dialects, and already in Proto-Indo-European. This dissertation offers a reconstruction of the development of the syllabic liquids in all alphabetic Greek dialects (from ca. 800 BCE) and in Mycenaean (ca. 1400-1200 BCE). The emphasis is on two questions: what exactly was the regular outcome of syllabic r and syllabic l (in which way did they vocalize)? And when in the prehistory of Greek sound changes did this vocalization take place? Show less
In this study, the formation of the Tocharian subjunctive is described, its use and meaning are analysed and its origins are investigated. The two Tocharian languages A and B are known to us... Show moreIn this study, the formation of the Tocharian subjunctive is described, its use and meaning are analysed and its origins are investigated. The two Tocharian languages A and B are known to us through Buddhist manuscripts from ca. 400-1200 CE that were found along the Northern Silk Road in Xīnjiāng, China. Tocharian A and B are closely related, and they belong to the Indo-European language family. It is argued that the Tocharian subjunctive is closest to the present as far as the endings are concerned, while the formation of its stem is rather parallel to the preterite. Thus, the subjunctive is essentially a kind of "second present" formed from the preterite stem. In main clauses, the basic meaning of the subjunctive is future: different kinds of modal readings are often possible, but they are the result of inference. In subclauses, a variety of uses is found, for instance conditionality, iterativity, uncertainty, finality and indefiniteness. The Tocharian subjunctive is derived from the Proto-Indo-European aorist stem, a perfective stem next to the imperfective present stem. The meaning of the subjunctive can be derived from that of a "perfective present", which it still is morphologically on the synchronic level. Show less
Deze dissertatie biedt een volledig bijgewerkte en gemodernisserde etymologische beschrijving van 530 Armeense lexemen, waarvan Indo-Europese oorsprong zeker of waarschijnlijk is. Armeens is vanuit... Show moreDeze dissertatie biedt een volledig bijgewerkte en gemodernisserde etymologische beschrijving van 530 Armeense lexemen, waarvan Indo-Europese oorsprong zeker of waarschijnlijk is. Armeens is vanuit Indo-Europees standpunt al meer dan 100 jaar bestudeerd. Er bestaan veel waardevolle handboeken, detailstudies en overzichten van de vergelijkende studie van het Armeens. De meeste daarvan concentreren zich op het Klassiek Armeens (ca. 500 na Chr.) en gebruiken slechts zelden moderne dialectale en etnografische gegevens. Niet-literaire gegevens vanuit de Armeense dialecten zijn voor het grootste deel buiten het blikveld van het Indo-Europese etymologische onderzoek gebleven. Een uitzondering vormen de fundamentele studies van Ačaryan (HAB) en Jahukyan (1972 en 1987). Dit boek integreert de lexicale, fonetische en morfologische gegevens van de Armeense dialecten en van etnografische beschrijvingen op een systematische wijze in de etymologische benadering van het Indo-Europese lexicon binnen het Armeens. Deze benadering is nieuw. In deze dissertatie wordt gebruik gemaakt van het materiaal dat is verzameld in Ačaryan's etymologische woordenboek en in de bestaande beschrijvingen van de individuele dialecten. Ook wordt een grote hoeveelheid materiaal verwerkt dat is geëxcerpeerd uit folkloreteksten en antropologische beschrijvingen, die meestal onbekend of onbereikbaar zijn voor geleerden buiten Armenië. Dit werk bestaat uit twee hoofdgedeelten: een etymologische bestudering van Armeense woorden die van zekere of waarschijnlijke Indo-Europese oorsprong zijn, en een eerste poging om te komen tot een zekere systematisering van taalkundige en culturele elementen die men kan afleiden uit de etymologische behandeling. In het eerste deel worden de geselecteerde lexemen op een systematische manier gepresenteerd en bestudeerd. In een filologische sectie worden de semantiek en de literaire referenties van een woord met zijn afleidingen behandeld met inbegrip van de morfologische kenmerken. Voor ieder lemma volgt dan een overzicht van de dialectale distributie en een discussie van de linguistische, dialectgeografische en etnografische aspecten die van belang zijn voor een etymologische beoordeling van het literaire materiaal. Daarop volgt een volledige etymologische discussie met insluiting van andere relevante Indo-Europese talen. Het tweede deel biedt een evaluatie van enkele resultaten van de etymologische studie in deel 1. Het vormt tevens een vooruitblik op diepgaander soortgelijk onderzoek. Er worden gevolgtrekkingen gemaakt voor de etymologische studie van het Armeens in algemene zin. Tenslotte worden systematisch de resultaten van de etnografische gegevens uitgewerkt. Show less
