Bomhard - Review of Shields "Indo-European Noun Inflection"

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D CHRON C

VOL.I NO.l

SPRING 1984

OLMS



DI CHRONIC

International Journal for Historical Linguistics

Revue internationale pour Ia linguistique historique

lnternationale Zeitschrift

f r

Historische Linguistik

EDITORI L DVISORY BO RD

Francisco R. Adrados Madrid)

Anders Ahlqvist Galway,

Eire)

Henning Andersen Copenhagen)

Raimo Anttila Los Angeles)

Franc;:ois

Bader

EPHE,

Paris)

James Bynon SOAS, London)

Desmond

T. Cole Johannesburg)

William Cowan Carleton)

Jacek Fisiak Poznan)

Paul Friedrich Chicago)

Thomas

V.

Gamkrelidze Tbilisi)

Vladimir I. Georgiev Sofia)

Anna Giacalone Ramat Pavia)

Roberto Gusmani Udine)

Kenneth

L.

Hale M.I.T.)

Henry M. Hoenigswald Philadelphia)

Paul J. Hopper Bjnghamton, N.Y.)

Tore Janson Stockholm)

Guy Jucquois Louvain-la-Neuve)

Bh. Krishnamurti Hyderabad)

Roger Lass Cape Town)

Winfred P. Lehmann Austin, Tex.)

Charles N.

Li

Santa Barbara, Cal.)

David W. Lightfoot Maryland)

J. Peter Maher NEIU, Chicago)

Yakov Malkiel Berkeley, Cal.)

Manfred Mayrhofer Wien)

Roy Andrew Miller Seattle, Wash.)

Andrew Pawley Auckland, N.Z.)

Rebecca Posner Oxford)

Martin

B.

Harris Salford)

Shiro Hattori Tokyo) Calvert Watkins Harvard)

Karl Horst Schmidt Bonn)

Jurgen Untermann Ki:iln)

Philip

H.

Baldi

Pennsylvania State University)

ssociate Editor

EDITORS

Allan R Barnhard

Boston)

Review Editor

AIM SCOPE

Konrad Koerner

University

o

Ottawa)

General Editor

Diachronica has been established as a forum for the exchange and synthesis

o

information concerning all aspects

o

Historical Linguistics and pertaining to all

language families. Both theory-oriented and data-oriented contributions are welcome.

In

order to ensure competence in

all

areas of research the editors are assisted by a large

and distinguished international Editorial Advisory Board, whose members are consulted

in the evaluation

o

manuscripts and in the approval of material for publication in the

journal.

Diachronica appears twice a year in Spring and Fall), each issue consisting o between

3-5 articles, a review article, 5-10 reviews, a miscellanea section carrying notes and

queries, discussions and reports, and a publications received rubric, which provides

capsule information on recent works in the field.



Diachronica 1:1.137-141 1984)

Indo-European

Noun

I n f l e c t i o n :

Deve lopmenta l His to ry .

By

Kenneth

Shie lds , J r . Foreword by Will iam R. Schmal

s t i eg .

Univers i ty Park and London:

The

Pennsylvania

Sta te Univers i ty

Press ,

1982. Pp.

xi ,

106.

Reviewed

by ALLAN R. BOMHARD Bos ton Mass

PRELIMINARY REMARKS: This

book w i l l

probably

not s t

wel l

with those Indo-Europeanists who s t ead fas t l y adhere to

the t r ad i t iona l

recons t ruc t ion o f PIE nominal i n f l ec t ion -

t he re are simply too many

ideas

here

t h a t

chal lenge accepted

dogma.

Shields

has at tempted to b lun t some o f the

i n e v i t

able c r i t i c i sm

t h a t

he

w i l l r ece ive from

the t r ad i t i ona l i s t s

by beginning

his book

with a b r i e f discuss ion of the bas ic

t heo re t i ca l

and methodological

assumptions

underlying his

approach

to the

problems of

recons t ruc t ing the preh i s t o r i c

development of nominal i n f l ec t ion

in the

IE paren t language.

Indo-Europeanists would do wel l , when reading t h i s book, to

ponder

the comments Shields

makes

in the In t roduct ion -

Shields has

a l o t to

say i n t h i s

shor t monograph, and

t

deserves ca re fu l , unbiased cons ide ra t ion . Not

everyth ing

he says

i s convincing,

but

the

book, as a whole,

i s

f i l l ed

with f resh

ideas

and proves , a t the

very

l e a s t , t ha t we

do

not

ye t

have a l l

the

answers

and

t h a t

the

t r ad i t iona l

recon

s t ruc t i on

of

PIE

nominal

i n f l ec t ion i s

but

one

o f severa l

poss ib le recons t ruc t ions .

The book

i s

divided i n to f ive chapters : Chapter 1

i s

a

genera l

in t roduc t ion .

Chapter 2 deals with nominal i n f l e c

t i on

in ea r l y

IE, Chapter 3 with the

enrichment

o f

the case

system, and

Chapter

4 with a d i scuss ion o f the

or ig in

of

the non-s ingu la r and

the

development of the

feminine

gender .

Fina l ly ,

the book

ends

with a b r i e f chronological

summary

of

the

developments discussed

in the preceding th ree chapters .

Chapter

1:

I n t r oduc t i on :

Shields

fol lows Schmalst ieg

in

assuming a se r i e s o f monophthongizat ions of preconson

an t a l diphthongs

with in

the development of PIE. Since t h i s

hypothes is p lays

an

impor tan t

p a r t

in his

proposals

concern

ing the development of nominal i n f l ec t ion , Shields should

have

discussed t h i s

theory in grea te r de ta i l .

Since t h i s

theory

i s cont rove rs ia l and not ye t wide ly

accepted , the

reader should consul t the

primary a r t i c l e s by

Schmalst ieg

to apprec ia te

fu l ly

the rami f i ca t ions of t h i s theory . For



138

ALLAN R

BOMBARD:

REVIEW

OF

SHIELDS (1982)

my p a r t , I am

sympathet ic

to the bas ic premises o f t h i s

theory ,

though I

would d isagree with

some

o f

the

d e t a i l s .

Chap te r : Nominal I n f l e c t i o n in Ear ly Indo Eur ope an :

Shields makes

severa l

impor tant proposa ls in t h i s

chap te r .

F i r s t , he assumes t h a t in its

most

pr imi t ive

s tages ,

Indo

European

was

probably an i s o l a t i n g language l i ke Chinese .

Shields i s no t the f i r s t to make such a claim.

However,

one

may

l e g i t im a te ly

ques t ion

the

va l id i ty o f t h i s

assumpt ion.

In

my

opinion , caut ion i s c a l l e d fo r . Obviously, something

e x i s t e d in pre-PIE and

in pre-pre-PIE, but

the t ru t h

i s

t ha t

we

r ea l ly j u s t

do

no t know

what

t h a t something

was.

t i s

j u s t as

l i ke l y t h a t pre-PIE was i n f l ec t ed and, in l ike man

ner ,

pre-pre-PIE. Sure ly , if the re ever were a s tage o f

development when PIE was an i s o l a t i n g language, it must

have

been a t an ext remely remote per iod o f t ime. That language

may

no t have

even been

PIE in

the

s t r i c t e s t

sense

o f

the

term bu t , r a t he r , a language ances t ra l to PIE proper and

another

or o the r proto- languages . However, t he re i s

no

ques t ion ing the

suppos i t ion

t h a t the development o f the

case

system found in

the

form of PIE

ex i s t i ng

immediately

p r i o r to i t s

d i s i n t eg ra t i on i n t o

the h i s to r i c a l l y - a t t e s t e d

daughter

languages

was

a gradua l

process and t ha t

se v e ra l

o f the

case endings

were

r a the r l a t e add i t ions . The

same

process o f gradua l development must a l so have occurred in

the

ca tegor i es

o f

number

and

gender .

I am

in

fu l l

agree

ment with Shields on these l a t t e r po in t s .

Another

impor tant

assumption

in

t h i s

chap te r

i s

t h a t

PIE was once an

e rga t ive - type

language. Shie lds , aga in , i s

no t

the

f i r s t

to make t h i s assumpt ion. Though t h i s theory

i s

indeed

specula t ive ,

the re

are many subt le

c lues

t ha t

po in t in t h i s

d i rec t i on , and

it i s ,

the re fore ,

highly prob

able t h a t Shields i s c or r e c t

here , though

much work still

needs to

be

done. Tied in with the e r g a t i v i t y theory i s

the

assumption t h a t e a r ly

PIE possessed j u s t two formal ly

marked case

ca tegor i es :

an

abso lu te case

in

-N

and an

e rga t ive case in *-ri and *- r . One

weakness

in t h i s formu

l a t i on

i s

t ha t it

i s

the

abso lu te case

and

no t

the e rga t ive

t h a t would be expec ted to have a

*- i l

case ending. Shields

i s

wel l

aware

of

t h i s

problem

and

a t tempts

to

dea l

with

it

by

presen t ing t h e o r e t i c a l arguments in suppor t

o f

his

p o s i

t i on . Though h i s arguments are ext remely persuas ive , I

cannot

say

t ha t Shields

has

d i s pe l l e d a l l doubt .

Next ,

Shields

d i scusses

the t r a n s i t i o n of

PIE from

an

e rg a t i v e - t y p e language to a nomina t ive /accusa t ive - type l a n

guage

and, f ina l ly , the

e rga t ive su f f i x * - r .

Shie lds p ro

poses

t h a t the o ld e rga t ive * - r ending was reana lyzed

as

a





140

ALLAN

R

BOMBARD: REVIEW OF SHIELDS (1982)

Chapter 4: The

Orig in o f t he Non-S ingu lar

and

t he

Deve lopment

o f

t he Feminine Gender: Shie lds

begins

t h i s

chap te r with a

de t a i l ed d i scuss ion

o f

the

o r i g i n o f

the

non-s ingu la r .

He mentions t h a t the

appearance

o f s pe c i f

i c a l l y

non-s ingu la r

format ions

was

a

r a t he r

l a t e

develop

ment in PIE. He

then

proceeds to

discuss

how the t h ree

suf f ixes -N,

- i ,

and

- s

were

incorpora ted i n to

the de

c lens iona l

system

as markers of non-s ingu la r i ty : F i r s t ,

Shields mainta ins t h a t the voca l ic - s tem animate nouns

formed

a

genera l i zed

• • . non-s ingu la r va r i a n t

by

adding to

the s tem the s u f f i x *-N: -o -N, -a -N, - i - N , and -u -N .

Because o f phonologica l changes

,

the fol lowing pa i r s

of sandhi double ts were crea ted: -oN / -o , -aN/ -a ,

- iN / - I , and -uN/ -u . Only the preconsonanta l forms are

genera l ly

re t a ined

in the

non-s ingu la r forms

in the

h i s

t o r i c a l d i a l e c t s ,

where

they are a t t e s t e d as markers o f

the

nominat ive-accusat ive

dual

Then, l a t e r ,

the

non

s ingu la r s u f f i x - s was added to these endings

y i e l d i n g

- a s ,

- I s , and

- u s , which became

the nomina t ive-accusa

t i ve p lu ra l

forms Next ,

the non-s ingu la r marker - i

was incorpora ted i n t o the o-s tem dec lens ion ,

where

it

came

to ind ica te the nominat ive p l u ra l . Though I

persona l ly

would pre f e r a

l a ryngea l

exp lana t ion fo r some o f these

forms, Shie lds ' proposals must

be cons idered to be qu i t e

reasonable from a pure ly ob jec t ive po in t of

view.

Shields then proceeds to a d iscuss ion o f

the develop

ment

o f the

feminine

endings . Shields expands

upon

Schmidt's

theory

o f

a

close

r e l a t i ons h ip

between

the

primary feminine

markers -a , - I , and -u and ce r t a i n

neu te r p lu ra l

endings .

Bas ica l ly ,

Shields proposes t ha t e a r l i e r co l l ec t i ves in -a

(+* -a N ) ,

- I

(+*- i N) , and

-u (+ *-uN

were r e i n t e rp re t ed

as

s ingula r s . By chance, a number of these new s ingu la rs

r e f e r r e d

to beings

o f the feminine

sex ,

and

-a ,

- I , and

-u

were

segmented

as f emale - s ign i fy ing

su f f i xes .

This

s t r a i g h t - fo rw a rd exp lana t ion i s a model of c l a r i t y and must

su re ly come

c lose

to being c or r e c t . My one

disagreement

i s ,

as above, t h a t I

persona l ly

favor a l a ryngea l exp lana t ion .

Shie lds concludes h i s

d iscuss ion

o f the

feminine

endings

with

a

synops is

o f t h e i r subsequent development.

Next , Shields sugges ts t h a t the

appearance

o f these

ca tegor i es [ the non-s ingular number and

feminine

gender]

i s

in t ima te ly r e l a t ed

to the

appearance

o f the

weak

ad jec

t i v a l declens ion in Germanic.

The

f ina l

p o i n t

discussed

in

t h i s

chap te r

concerns the

o r i g i n o f the

end ing les s

l oc a t ive . Here, Shields fol lows

Kurylowicz

in be l i ev ing t h a t

the loca t ive

in

- i

preda tes



REVIEWS COMPTES RENDUS

BESPRECHUNGEN

4

the loca t ive in - ~ .

He

derives the endingless loca t ive

from the prevoca l i c

var i an t of

the o ld

nominative in neuter

consonant stems.

Chap te r

: r i e f

Chrono log i ca l

Summary:

In

t h i s

shor t chapter ,

Shields summarizes

the

major

poin ts

dis

cussed

in h i s book. He div ides the development of nominal

declens ion

in to f ive

s tages merely to have a usefu l frame

work

in which

to

proceed. These s tages are :

1.

Stage I : PIE was an e rga t ive - type language.

2. Stage I I : PIE became a nominat ive-accusat ive language.

3 . Stage I I I : Emergence of

obl ique

and

vocat ive cases .

By

the end

of

th i s s tage , only two

c las ses

of nouns

- - animates

and inanimates

neuters)

were in evidence . • •

4 . Stage IV:

Stage of increas ing

d ia lec ta l d i f f e r en t ia t ion .

Monophthongization

of

diphthongs and morphological iza t ion

of

accent occur .

Enrichment of the case system

and devel

opment

of

non-singular formations take

place .

5.

Stage V: Dis in tegra t ion

of PIE

parent language.

Shields

c loses

his monograph with what amounts

to

an

anoAoyCa. This

could

well have

been

omit ted , s ince

it

only

de t rac t s from an otherwise f ine book.*

R e v i e w e r s A d d r e s s :

Allan R.

Bomhard

86 Waltham St ree t

BOSTON, M 02118

U.S.A.

NOTE

*The

major

por t ion

of

th i s

review

or ig ina l ly

appeared

in

General

Linguis t ics vol . 22,

no. 4, pp. 269-72,

1982).

It

is

reproduced

here

wi th the

kind permiss ion

of the publ isher (The Pennsylvania

Sta te Uni

ve r s i ty P re s s ) .



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TABLE OF CONTENTS OF

DIACHRON CA :

SPRING

1984)

Editorial ....................................................................................................................... vii

ARTICLES I AUFSATZE

Norbert Boretzky (Bochum): The lndo-Europeanist Model of Sound Change

and Genetic Affinity and Its Application

to

Exotic Languages ................................. .

Andre Martinet (Paris): De Ia synchronie dynamique

a

a diachronie . .... ....... ....... ... . 53

Vladimir I. Georgiev (Sofia): Die drei Hauptper ioden des lndoeuropaischen .............. 65

Witold Mariczak (Cracovie): Origine meridionale du gotique ...................................... 79

REVIEW ARTICLE I RAPPORT CRITIQUE I FORSCHUNGSBERICHT

Ladeslav Zgusta (Urbana, Ill.): The Indo-European Lexicon by Robert Beard .......... 103

REVIEWS I COMPTES RENDUS I BESPRECHUNGEN

Anders Ahlqvist, ed., Papers from the Fifth International Conference on Historical

Linguistics

(Amsterdam Philadelphia, 1982), reviewed

by

Philip

H.

Baldi

(University Park, Pa. ... . ..... ... . .. . .... .. ... . ..... ... . .. . ...... ... . ..... ...... ... . ...... ....... 111

Philip Baldi, n Introduction to the Indo European Languages (Carbondale

Edwardsville, 1983), reviewed by John T. Jensen (Ottawa) .................................. 117

Graham Mallinson Barry J. Blake, Language Typology: Cross linguistic studies

n syntax

(Amsterdam - New

York

Oxford, 1981

,

reviewed by Paul Kent

Andersen (Bielefeld) . .... ..... ..... ... . .. . .. . .. . ..... ..... .. ... . ..... ....... ... . ..... ....... ... . 121

J. Peter Maher et al., eds., Papers from the Third International Conference on

Historical Linguistics (Amsterdam, 1982), reviewed by Tadao Shimomiya

(Tokyo) ..................................................................................................................

131

Kenneth Shields, Jr.,

Indo European Noun Inflection: A developmental history

(University Park London, 1982), reviewed

by

Allan

R.

Bomhard (Boston) ............. 137

MISCELLANEA: NOTES I NOTIZEN - DISCUSSIONS I DISKUSSIONEN

Martti Nyman (Helsinki): On Latin

halara

and

anhelare .............................................

143

Report on the 6th International Conference on Historical Linguistics (1983) ............ 145

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED I OUVRAGES RE<;:US I EINGEGANGENE SCHRIFTEN. 151

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