The Mirage of Correspondence in Comparative Linguistics:Greek -μᾱν, Hittite <i>-(ḫ)ḫaḫat(i)</i> and Lycian -<i>χagã</i>
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- Yoshida Kazuhiko
- Kyoto University
Bibliographic Information
- Other Title
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- 比較対応の幻想
- ―ギリシア語-μᾱν,ヒッタイト語-(ḫ)ḫaḫat(i),リュキア語-χagã―
Abstract
<p>The 1 sg. mediopassive endings, Greek -μᾱν(non-Attic-Ionic), Hittite -(ḫ)ḫaḫat(i) and Lycian -χagã at first glance seem to show an undeniable correspondence in terms of form and meaning, going back to the Proto-Indo-European iterated ending *-h2eh2e. However, a close examination of the iterated ending -(ḫ)ḫaḫa and uniterated ending -(ḫ)ḫa within the history of the Hittite language shows that Greek -μᾱν, Hittite -(ḫ)ḫaḫat(i) and Lycian -χagã are independent developments in the prehistory of each language. Neo-Hittite historical texts still have the uniterated endings as well as the iterated endings. From a functional point of view, there is no discernible opposition between them. If we assume that Proto-Indo-European or Proto-Anatolian had the iterated ending available, it would turn out that *-h2e and *-h2eh2e remained functionally undistinguished from a Proto-Indo-European or Proto-Anatolian stage to the Neo-Hittite period. Having two free variants coexisting over such a long period does not seem likely. Needless to say, the comparative method is a powerful tool for reconstructing proto-languages, and there is a constant temptation when practicing the comparative method to attribute too much to the common ancestor, but it is important to recognize its limitations.</p>
Journal
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- GENGO KENKYU (Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan)
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GENGO KENKYU (Journal of the Linguistic Society of Japan) 140 (0), 1-22, 2011
The Linguistic Society of Japan
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Details 詳細情報について
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- CRID
- 1390854717499025280
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- ISSN
- 21856710
- 00243914
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- Text Lang
- ja
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- Data Source
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- JaLC
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- Abstract License Flag
- Disallowed