Lexikon der Indogermanischen Verben
Encyclopedia
The Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (LIV, "Lexicon of the Indo-European Verbs") is an etymological dictionary
of the Proto-Indo-European
verb. The first edition appeared in 1998, edited by Helmut Rix
. A second edition followed in 2001. The book is based on the Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
(IEW) by Julius Pokorny
. It was the first dictionary of Indo-European roots with reconstructions fully utilizing the advances made from laryngeal theory
.
s split off, aspect
emerged as a new grammatical category.
Telic verbs were interpreted as aorist
forms, and the missing present
was formed with various suffixes (for example) and the nasal infix
, all of which are supposed to come from old grammatical forms of uncertain meaning.
Atelic verbs were interpreted as present forms, and the missing aorist was formed with the suffix -s-, yielding the sigma
tic aorist.
This hypothesis is used to explain various phenomena:Other verbs form root aorists (Latin "I have won", pronounced vīkī, from ) and derived present forms ( "I win", from , with nasal infix).
For many PIE verbs, various present forms can be reconstructed without discernible differences in meaning (like and above, both forms have attested reflexes in IE languages: Greek
"I shine" and Proto-Celtic "to shine, burn" > Scottish Gaelic "to burn", respectively).
In addition to the present and the aorist, the following aspects are assumed:
Fortson calls the LIV "[v]ery useful and up-to-date – though in various places controversial", but does not elaborate on the controversial places.
Ringe states that the theories in Rix (what he terms the "Cowgill-Rix verb") largely reflect current consensus, but implies that some of his phonological reconstructions may go beyond the consensus (in terms of being insufficiently "conservative").
Etymological dictionary
An etymological dictionary discusses the etymology of the words listed. Often, large dictionaries, such as the OED and Webster's, will contain some etymological information, without aspiring to focus on etymology....
of the Proto-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...
verb. The first edition appeared in 1998, edited by Helmut Rix
Helmut Rix
Helmut Rix was a German linguist and professor of the Sprachwissenschaftliches Seminar of Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany....
. A second edition followed in 2001. The book is based on the Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch
Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch
The Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch was published in 1959 by the Austrian-German comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny...
(IEW) by Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny
Julius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
. It was the first dictionary of Indo-European roots with reconstructions fully utilizing the advances made from laryngeal theory
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...
.
The LIVs hypothesis about aspect
The authors of the LIV assume a dichotomy between telic verbs (terminated: for example, "to light up") and atelic verbs (ongoing: for example, "to shine") in early stages of Proto-Indo-European. Before the daughter languageDaughter language
In historical linguistics, a daughter language is a language descended from another language through a process of genetic descent.-Examples:*English is a daughter language of Proto-Germanic, which is a daughter language of Proto-Indo-European....
s split off, aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
emerged as a new grammatical category.
Telic verbs were interpreted as aorist
Aorist
Aorist is a philological term originally from Indo-European studies, referring to verb forms of various languages that are not necessarily related or similar in meaning...
forms, and the missing present
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...
was formed with various suffixes (for example) and the nasal infix
Nasal infix
The nasal infix is a reconstructed nasal consonant or syllable that was inserted into the stem of a word in the Proto-Indo-European language, that has reflexes in several modern European languages...
, all of which are supposed to come from old grammatical forms of uncertain meaning.
Atelic verbs were interpreted as present forms, and the missing aorist was formed with the suffix -s-, yielding the sigma
Sigma
Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and carries the 'S' sound. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 200. When used at the end of a word, and the word is not all upper case, the final form is used, e.g...
tic aorist.
This hypothesis is used to explain various phenomena:
- Some verbs in Indo-European languages form root presents (LatinLatinLatin 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...
"I pull, I lead", from PIEProto-Indo-European languageThe Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
) and derived sigmatic aorists (perfect forms in Latin: "I have pulled, I have led", pronounced
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
"I shine" and Proto-Celtic "to shine, burn" > Scottish Gaelic "to burn", respectively).
In addition to the present and the aorist, the following aspects are assumed:
- Perfect
- CausativeCausativeIn linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
-Iterative - DesiderativeDesiderativeIn linguistics, a desiderative form is one that has the meaning of "wanting to X". Desiderative forms are often verbs, derived from a more basic verb through a process of morphological derivation.-Sanskrit:...
- Intensive (repetition)
- Fientive (onset of a new state)
- Essive (persistent state)
Lemmata
The lexical part contains for each verbal root- the conjectured meaning,
- reconstructed stems with their reflexes in the daughter languages,
- extensive footnotes (with references, remarks on alternative and dubious reconstructions, etc.),
- the page number of the corresponding IEW entry.
Indices
The book includes- a regressive root index,
- an index of reconstructed primary stems, sorted by aspect and formation rule,
- an index of reflexes in the daughter languages, sorted by language.
Reception and criticism
- Seebold claims insufficient evidence for roots reconstructed from a single daughter language. Helmut Rix insists in the preface to the second edition that the assessment of the evidence should be left to the reader.
- Seebold also criticises some of the conjectured meanings. Rix calls this criticism basically legitimate.
- Meier-Brügger tentatively calls the
Other PIE dictionaries and grammars
- Grundriß der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen SprachenGrundriß der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen SprachenGrundriß der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen is a major work of historical linguistics by Karl Brugmann and Berthold Delbrück, published in two editions between 1886 and 1916...
(published 1886-1916 by Karl BrugmannKarl BrugmannKarl Brugmann was a German linguist. He is a towering figure in Indo-European linguistics.-Biography:He was educated at Halle and Leipzig. He was instructor in the gymnasium at Wiesbaden and at Leipzig, and in 1872-77 was assistant at the Russian Institute of Classical Philology at the latter place...
and Berthold DelbrückBerthold DelbrückBerthold Gustav Gottlieb Delbrück was a German linguist who devoted himself to the study of the comparative syntax of the Indo-European languages.-Biography:...
) - Indogermanisches etymologisches WörterbuchIndogermanisches Etymologisches WörterbuchThe Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch was published in 1959 by the Austrian-German comparative linguist and Celtic languages expert Julius Pokorny...
(IEW, first published 1956 by Julius PokornyJulius PokornyJulius Pokorny was an Austrian linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities.-Life:...
), with reconstructions pre-dating larnygeal theory - Indo-European Etymological DictionaryIndo-European Etymological DictionaryThe Indo-European Etymological Dictionary is a research project of the Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University, initiated in 1991 by Peter Schrijver and others....
, an ongoing project based in Leiden, intended to result in the publication of a comprehensive Indo-European etymological dictionary
External links
- Pokorny PIE Data (University of Texas)
- Indogermanisches Wörterbuch by Gerhard Köbler (based on the IEW and including laryngeal-based reconstructions, but only as alternative lemmas with cross references to the pre-laryngeal ones)
- A Lexikon der indogermanischen Nomina (LIN, "Lexicon of the Indo-European Nouns") was intended, but the project has been cancelled due to cutting of funds. The book was eventually published anyway under the title Nomina im indogermanischen Lexikon (NIL, "Nouns in the Indo-European Lexicon"), but only including a limited selection of roots.