As part of the Indo-European language family, the Indo-Iranian branch traces its origins back to the Indo-European homeland on the Pontic-Caspian steppe 5000 years ago. But how did it spread from... Show moreAs part of the Indo-European language family, the Indo-Iranian branch traces its origins back to the Indo-European homeland on the Pontic-Caspian steppe 5000 years ago. But how did it spread from there to Asia? The aim of this thesis is to uncover the early prehistory of Indo-Iranian by investigating its relationship to the Balto-Slavic languages of Eastern Europe, which have been hypothesized to form a subgroup with Indo-Iranian: Indo-Slavic. By comparing the linguistic data with evidence from archaeology and genetics, this thesis traces the migration path of prehistoric Indo-Iranian speakers from the Pontic-Caspian steppe, via the rivers and forests of Eastern Europe, across the Ural Mountains, and southwards to the steppes of Central Asia. Show less
The article discusses the development of the Proto-Indo-European sequences *-eum and *-eh2m. The former produced *-ēm, allegedly through loss of *-u- with compensatory lengthening of the preceding... Show moreThe article discusses the development of the Proto-Indo-European sequences *-eum and *-eh2m. The former produced *-ēm, allegedly through loss of *-u- with compensatory lengthening of the preceding *-e- ("Stang’s law"), while *-eh2m allegedly produced *-ām within the proto-language ("extended Stang’s law"). The evidence for both claims is scrutinized, with special emphasis on the acc.sg. and acc.pl. endings of the ā-stems in Indo-Iranian and Baltic and the Proto-Indo-European paradigm of the word for ‘cow’. It is concluded that "extended Stang’s law" cannot be maintained and that "Stang’s law" is probably incorrect, too. Alternative explanations for the attested forms are given. Show less
