Athematic
Encyclopedia
In the Indo-European languages
, thematic stems are stems ending in a theme vowel, a vowel
sound that is always present between the stem of the word and the attached ending
. Athematic stems lack a theme vowel, and attach their ending directly to the stem itself.
For example, consider the endings of the Latin
"first declension
" singular:
The vowel a is prominent in these case endings, so nouns like rosa came to be known as "a-stem" nouns, with a being the "theme vowel," and was later analysed as having a stem containing a root plus a suffix
. In fact, philologists
now believe that the suffix in Indo-European
was *-eh2, with a laryngeal
that usually became a in the daughter languages.
The distinction between thematic and athematic stems is especially apparent in the Greek
verb
; they fall into two classes that are marked by quite different personal endings. Thematic verbs are also called -ω (-ô) verbs in Greek; athematic verbs are -μι (-mi) verbs, after the first person singular
present tense
ending that each of them uses. The entire conjugation
seems to differ quite markedly between the two sets of verbs, but the differences are really the result of the thematic vowel reacting with the verb endings; in classical Greek, the present tense active endings for athematic verbs are:
while the thematic verbs took the endings:
In Greek, athematic verbs are a closed class
of inherited forms from the parent Indo-European language. Marked contrasts between thematic and athematic forms also appear in Lithuanian
, Sanskrit
, and Old Church Slavonic
. In Latin
, almost all verbs are thematic; a handful of surviving athematic forms exist, but they are considered irregular verb
s.
The thematic and athematic distinction also applies to nouns; many of the older Indo-European languages distinguish between "vowel stems" and "consonant stems" in the declension
of nouns. In Latin, the first, second, fourth, and fifth declensions are vowel stems characterised by a, o, u and e, respectively; the third declension contains both consonant stems and i stems, whose declensions came to closely resemble one another in Latin. Greek, Sanskrit, and other older Indo-European languages also distinguish between vowel and consonant stems, as did Old English
.
In modern English
, and other languages whose morphology
has been drastically simplified by analogy
, the distinction between thematic and athematic forms is no longer a meaningful one.
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, thematic stems are stems ending in a theme vowel, a vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
sound that is always present between the stem of the word and the attached ending
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
. Athematic stems lack a theme vowel, and attach their ending directly to the stem itself.
For example, consider the endings of the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
"first declension
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
" singular:
| Nom. Nominative case The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments... |
rosa |
| Gen. Genitive case In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun... |
rosae |
| Dat. Dative case The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink".... |
rosae |
| Acc. Accusative case The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions... |
rosam |
| Abl. Ablative case In linguistics, ablative case is a name given to cases in various languages whose common characteristic is that they mark motion away from something, though the details in each language may differ... |
rosā |
The vowel a is prominent in these case endings, so nouns like rosa came to be known as "a-stem" nouns, with a being the "theme vowel," and was later analysed as having a stem containing a root plus a suffix
Affix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
. In fact, philologists
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
now believe that the suffix in Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
was *-eh2, with a laryngeal
Laryngeal theory
The laryngeal theory is a generally accepted theory of historical linguistics which proposes the existence of one, or a set of three , consonant sounds termed "laryngeals" that appear in most current reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European language...
that usually became a in the daughter languages.
The distinction between thematic and athematic stems is especially apparent in the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
; they fall into two classes that are marked by quite different personal endings. Thematic verbs are also called -ω (-ô) verbs in Greek; athematic verbs are -μι (-mi) verbs, after the first person singular
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
present tense
Present tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation or event in present time. This linguistic definition refers to a concept that indicates a feature of the meaning of a verb...
ending that each of them uses. The entire conjugation
Grammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
seems to differ quite markedly between the two sets of verbs, but the differences are really the result of the thematic vowel reacting with the verb endings; in classical Greek, the present tense active endings for athematic verbs are:
- -μι, -ς, σι, -μεν, -τε, -ασι(ν))
while the thematic verbs took the endings:
- -ω, -εις, -ει, -ομεν, -ετε, -ουσι(ν))
In Greek, athematic verbs are a closed class
Closed class
In linguistics, a closed class is a word class to which no new items can normally be added, and that usually contains a relatively small number of items. Typical closed classes found in many languages are adpositions , determiners, conjunctions, and pronouns.Contrastingly, an open class offers...
of inherited forms from the parent Indo-European language. Marked contrasts between thematic and athematic forms also appear in Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, and Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Church Slavic was the first literary Slavic language, first developed by the 9th century Byzantine Greek missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius who were credited with standardizing the language and using it for translating the Bible and other Ancient Greek...
. In Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, almost all verbs are thematic; a handful of surviving athematic forms exist, but they are considered irregular verb
Irregular verb
In contrast to regular verbs, irregular verbs are those verbs that fall outside the standard patterns of conjugation in the languages in which they occur. The idea of an irregular verb is important in second language acquisition, where the verb paradigms of a foreign language are learned...
s.
The thematic and athematic distinction also applies to nouns; many of the older Indo-European languages distinguish between "vowel stems" and "consonant stems" in the declension
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
of nouns. In Latin, the first, second, fourth, and fifth declensions are vowel stems characterised by a, o, u and e, respectively; the third declension contains both consonant stems and i stems, whose declensions came to closely resemble one another in Latin. Greek, Sanskrit, and other older Indo-European languages also distinguish between vowel and consonant stems, as did Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
.
In modern English
Modern English
Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, completed in roughly 1550.Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern...
, and other languages whose morphology
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
has been drastically simplified by analogy
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
, the distinction between thematic and athematic forms is no longer a meaningful one.
Athematic declension example (Ancient Greek)
| Attic form | Reconstructed form before | |
| Nom. Nominative case The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments... |
||
| Gen. Genitive case In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun... |
||
| Dat. Dative case The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink".... |
||
| Acc. Accusative case The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions... |
< | |
| Voc. Vocative case The vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence... |