Bibliography

Kortlandt, Frederik, “The alleged early apocope of *-i in Celtic”, Études Celtiques 32 (1996): 91–97.

  • journal article
Citation details
Article
“The alleged early apocope of *-i in Celtic”
Periodical
Études Celtiques 32 (1996)
Études Celtiques 32 (1996).
Persée – Études Celtiques, vol. 32, 1996: <link>
Volume
32
Pages
91–97
Description
Abstract (cited)
[FR] L’ hypothèse d’une apocope ancienne de *-i en celtique.
Il n’y a pas de preuve d’une apocope ancienne de *-i final dans les désinences verbales de 3e personne, mais on en trouve le témoignage dans la désinence conjointe de 1e sg. athématique -imm, ex. crenaim «j’achète» <*kw rinomi. H n’y a pas de preuve d’une apocope ancienne de *-i final au dat. sg. des thèmes consonantiques, mais on en trouve le témoignage dans inn-uraid «l’an dernier » < PIE *peruti. Il n’y a pas de preuve d’une apocope ancienne de *-i final dans les prép. fri et la, mais on en trouve le témoignage dans les prép. imm «autour » <*ambi et ar «devant» <*pari. Le développement supposé pour *-ti, donnant *-t puis -s, est une illusion. Par conséquent il n’est pas possible de tirer la particule absolue *es de *eti. L’auteur estime qu’il s’agit d’une particule focalisante *est «c’est (un fait que) », dont le développement ne peut être séparé de celui du pronom anaphorique *so devenu marque relative. La redistribution des deux particules en celtique insulaire trouve peut-être sa clef dans les formes relatives du moyen gallois, ex. na welyd «qu’il ne voit pas », en face de gwyl «il voit » de *wele, ce qui conduirait à reconstruire *na-so wele-yo.

[EN] There is no evidence for an early apocope of final *-i in the 3rd person verbal endings while there is counter-evidence in the athematic 1st sg. conjunct ending -imm, e. g. crenaim ‘I buy’ < *kwrinami. There is no evidence for an early apocope of final *-i in the dat. sg. forms of the consonant stems while there is counterevidence in inn-uraid ‘last year’ < PIE. *peruti. There is no evidence for an early apocope of *-i in fri and la while there is counter-evidence in imm ‘about’ < *ambi and *ar ‘before’ < *pari. The alleged development of *-ti > *-t > -s is a fallacy. It follows that a derivation of the absolute particle *es from *eti cannot be upheld. I think that *es represents a focus particle *est ‘it is (the case that)’ and that its development cannot be separated from that of the anaphoric pronoun *so into a relative marker. There may be a clue to the Insular Celtic redistribution of the two particles in the Middle Welsh relative forms, e.g. na welyd ‘that he sees not’ beside gwyl ‘he sees’ < *wele, which suggests that we have to reconstruct *na-so wele-yo.
Related publications
Other editions or printings
Kortlandt, Frederik, Italo-Celtic origins and prehistoric development of the Irish language, Leiden Studies in Indo-European, 14, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007.  
abstract:
This volume offers a discussion of the phonological and morphological development of Old Irish and its Indo-European origins. The emphasis is on the relative chronology of sound changes and on the development of the verbal system. Special attention is devoted to the origin of absolute and relative verb forms, to the rise of the mutations, to the role of thematic and athematic inflexion types in the formation of present classes, preterit[e]s, subjunctives and futures, and to the development of deponents and passive forms. Other topics include infixed and suffixed pronouns, palatalization of consonants and labialization of vowels, and the role of Continental Celtic in the reconstruction of Proto-Celtic. The final chapter provides a detailed analysis of the Latin and other Italic data which are essential to a reconstruction of Proto-Italo-Celtic. The appendix contains a full reconstruction of the Old Irish verbal paradigms, which renders the subject more easily accessible to a wider audience. The book is of interest to Celticists, Latinists, Indo-Europeanists and other historical linguists.
(source: Publisher)
Subjects and topics
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen, Pierre Faure
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August 2011, last updated: April 2020