SverreJohnsen
GSASWorkshoponIndo-Europeanhistoricallinguistics
HarvardUniversity
October6th,2006
ThehistoricalderivationofGothicaba‘husband’
‘husband’
1.Semantics
1.Semantics
Gothicabahas29attestationsinthefragmentsofWulfila’stranslationoftheBible.27of
theseareinpassageswhereabaisusedtodenotetheothermemberinthepairsqēns
‘woman,wife’–aba,qinō‘id.’–abaandmagaþs*‘youngwoman’–aba.Fromthisitis
clearthatitdesignatesamaleperson,usuallythehusband.Thetworemaining
attestationsareequallytransparentinthatmeaning.abaisfurtherwithoutexceptions
translatedfromtheGreekoriginal7ν9ρ‘maleperson;husband’,sowehavedouble
evidenceforthismeaningofGothicaba.
2.Germaniccognates
2.Germaniccognates
AGothicabawouldcorrespondtoONafi,andsuchawordisattestedwithtwodifferent
meanings,‘malerelativeindirectline’and‘grandfather’.Themeaningmostinteresting
toushere,‘malerelative’,isnotaswellattestedastheothermeaning,butitis
neverthelesssurelyused.ExamplesfromNorwegianprose:Núskalþǽrjarðirtelja,er
óðlumskulufylgja.Súerein,erafihefirafaleift.‘Nowthoseestateswillbementioned,
whicharepatrimonial.Thatisone,whichafihasleftforafi’(GulI912).Middle
Norwegian:mitthafuumengheannathøyrtattþathefuerfylktafueeftirafwaþatsem
firasysteraatto[...]efttirfadursiin.‘wehavenotheardanythingelsethanwhatthefour
sisters[…]gotfromtheirfatherhadfollowedafiafterafi’(DNIV620).
AphonologicalcorrespondenceinWesternGermanicappearsonlyinmalepersonal
names:OHGAbo,OSALoandOEAfa.Thereisnocompellingreasontorejecttheseas
perfectcorrespondences,buttheyobviouslyallowotherinterpretations,e.g.as
hypocoristicformations.
1
3.Morphology
3.Morphology
Gothicabahasthefollowingdeclension:
Sg
Pl
Nom
ab-a
ab-ans
Acc
ab-an
–
Dat
ab-in
ab-nam
Gen
ab-ins
ab-nē
Voc
–
–
Thesingulardeclinesasaregularmasculinen-stem,whereastheobliqueplural
declensiondiffersfromtheregularpattern,illustratedthroughatta‘father’.
Sg
Pl
Nom
att-a
att-ans
Acc
att-an
att-ans
Dat
att-in
att-am
Gen
att-ins
att-anē
Voc
att-a
att-ans
ThespecialtraitofGothicabaistheform-n-ofthen-stemsuffixbeforetheendings-am
and-ēinthedat.andgen.pl.respectively.Thishasitsparallelsinothern-stem
formationsinGothic.
2
1.Thewordfor‘ox’,m.auhsa*,isattestedinthefollowingcases:
Sg
Pl
Nom
–
–
Acc
auhs-an auhs-OPOs
Dat
auhs-QO
–
Gen
–
auhs-nē
Voc
–
–
2.Thewordm.manna‘man’(theformsinnon-boldtypesareanalogicalformationsfrom
theboldtypeforms,andthereforeputinparenthesis):
Sg
Pl
Nom
(manna)
man--s
man
Acc
(mannan)
(mans)
Dat
man--n
man
(mannam)
Gen
man--s
man
man--nē
man
nē
Voc
(manna)
–
Thegen.sg.andnom.pl.mansaresynchronicallytheoutputformsofunderlying
/man-n-s/,asgeminatesareshortenedbeforeaconsonant.
4.TheGermanicn-stem
stem
OHGagreeswithGothicintheregulardeclensionofthen-steminhaving-in-inthe
dat./gen.sg.,elsewhere*-an-(heredisregardingthemuchdisputedfactthatthis*-an-
showsupas-un-and-on-inOHG).MostoftheotherGermaniclanguageshave
generalized-an-outsideofthenom.sg.MostofthelanguagesoutsideofGothicshow
similardeviantformswithonly-n-,though.
3
1.Them.wordsfor‘ox’declineswithgeneralized-n-inthepluralinbothOEandON:
OE
ON
Sg
Pl
Sg
Pl
Nom
ox-a
øx-en
ux-i
yx-n
Acc
ox-an
øx-en
ux-a
yx-n
Dat
ox-an
ox-num ux-a
yx-num
Gen
ox-an
ux-a
yx-na
ox-na
Comparedtotheregularparadigm,exemplifiedthroughguma‘man’:
OE
Sg
Pl
ON
Sg
Pl
Nom
gum-a
gum-an gum-i
gum-ar
Acc
gum-an
gum-an gum-a
gum-a
Dat
gum-an
gum-um gum-a
gum-um
Gen
gum-an gum-ena gum-a
gum-a
2.TheOEmanna‘man’hasalmostentirelycrossedovertotheconsonantstem,but
preservesn-stemfeaturesinthesg.:
OE
Pre-OE
Sg
Pl
Sg
Pl
Nom
mann-a
men
*man-ni
Acc
mann-an
men
*man-ni
Dat
men
*man-ni
Gen
men
*man-ni
man-num man-na
ONshowsthesamepatternintheplural,withnom./acc.pl.menn<*man-niR,dat.pl.
mǫn-num,gen.pl.man-na.Thesingularfollowsthea-stem.
4
3.WhereotherGermaniclanguagesshowaregularn-stemin-C-an-,ONhassometimes
-C-nu-,asequencewhichonlycanhaveoriginatedfrom*-C-n-C-,wherethesyllabic
nasal*--triggersananaptycticvowelandbecomes*-uN-,hence*-C-n-C->
*-C-n-uNC-.AnONnu-stemisthereforeindirectevidenceof-n-inthen-stem.Thebest
examplesofthisareONǫrn<*arnu-vs.OHGaro‘eagle’andONbjǫrn<*bernu-vs.
OHGbero‘bear’.
4.AcrosstheGermaniclanguages,especiallyinNordic,somen-stemshaveundergone
paradigmsplit,whereoneoriginalwordhassplitintotwo,andwherethetwowordsnow
caneithershowthesamemeaning,ortwoslightlydifferent.Thesesplitshaveoccurred
wherethestemformant-n-wasused,whichinoneofthewordsoriginatingfromthesplit
hasbecomeapartofthestem,withthere-additionofthen-suffix*-an-,orbygivingita
vocalicinflexionin-na-or-nu-,i.e.*-C-an-/-C-n-→1.*-C-an-2.*-C-n-an-3.*-C-n-V-:
a) PG*ber-an-/ber-n-‘bear’→1.OHGbero,OldSwedishPNBjæri2.ONBjarni3.
ONbjǫrn.
b) PG*ar-an-/ar-n-‘eagle’→1.ONari,OHGaro3.OEearn,ONǫrn,OHGarn.
c) PG*sef-an-/seb-n-‘mind’→1.ONsefi2.ONsjafni.
d) PG*hers-an-/herz-n-‘head,skull’→1.ONhjarsi‘crownofthehead’2.ON
hjarni‘brain’.
e) PG*urz-en-/urz-n-‘themale’→1.ONorri‘heathcock’2.OldSwedishorni
‘boar’.
5.Thereareseveralpairsofwords,especiallyinWestGermanic,withandwithouta
geminatedrootfinalconsonant,andthisisgenerallytakentoindicateaparadigmsplit,
andthesequence*-C-n-issaidtoberesponsibleforthegeminationto*-CC-.Aswith
theparadigmsplitsunder4,then-stemsuffixmightbere-added,i.e.*-C-an-/*-C-n->
*-CC-→1.*-C-an-2.*-CC-an-:
5
a) *bul-an-/*bul-n->*bull-‘bull’→1.ONboli2.MEbulle,MLGbulle,German
Bulle.
b) *knab-an-/*knab-n->*knapp-‘boy’→1.OHGknabo,OEcnafa2.OHG
knappo,OEcnapa.
Theconclusionmustthereforebethattheuseof*-n-ofthen-stemsuffixwasmore
proliferateinearlierstagesofGermanicthanwhatitwasattheattestedstagesofthe
individualOldGermaniclanguages.
5.ThePIEn-stem
stem
TheanimatePIEn-stemcameinfourdistincttypes:
1.Theamphikinetictypewithaccentede-gradeoftherootando-gradeofthesuffixin
thestrongcases,andaccentedendingintheweakcaseswithzerogradeintheroot:
Amphikinetic
Strongcases
R(é)
S(o)
E(Ø)
Weakcases
R(Ø)
S(Ø)
E(é)
Loc.sg.
R(Ø)
S(é)
Vedic
Nom.sg.
ātm
>
Loc.sg.
*éh1tm-ō
*h1tm-nés
*h1tm-én
tmán
Latin
Nom.sg.
*kérH-ō
*kH-nés
*kH-én
carō
carnis
Gen.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
6
>
2.Thehysterokinetictypewithzerogradeoftheroot,andaccentede-gradeofthesuffix
inthestrongcases,andaccentedendingintheweakcases:
Hysterokinetic
Strongcases
R(Ø)
S(é)
E(Ø)
Weakcases
R(Ø)
S(Ø)
E(é)
Loc.sg.
R(Ø)
S(é)
Greek
Nom.sg.
*wh1-en
*wh1-n-és
*wh1-én
7ρ9ν
>
7ρνfς
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
3.Theindividualizingtype,whereanamphi-orhysterokineticablautingn-suffixisadded
toanotherstem.Ifthisstemisathematic,itwilldeclineastype1and2.Whenaddedtoa
thematicstem,theyproducetwodifferenttypes:
a) Originalhysterokinetic:
Greek
Nom.sg.
*-C-en
*-C-en-
*-C-en-és
*-C-én
-9ν
-9να
Greekjριστος‘best’→oριστ9ν‘thebestone’
>
-pνος
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
b) Originalamphikinetic:
Latin
Nom.sg.
*-C-q
*-C-qn-
*-C-on-és
*-C-ón
Latincatus‘sharp’→Catō‘thesharpone’
>
-ō
-ōnem
-ōnis
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
4.TheHoffmann-type,whereapossessivesuffix*-h1en-wasaddedtoanotherstemto
formapossessive.Thesuffixhadamphi-andhysterokineticablaut,andwhenitwas
7
affixedtoanathematicbase,iteventuallycollapsedwithtype1and2inmostcases.The
affixationtoathematicbasehasleftmoredistincttracesinthelanguages.
a) Athematicamphikinetic:
Vedic
Nom.sg.
*h2éw-h1ō
*h2éw-h1on-
*h2u-h1n-és
*h2u-h1én
Vedicyu-‘life’→yúvān-‘havinglife’
>
yúvā
yúvānam
ynas
Vedic
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
b) Athematichysterokinetic:
Nom.sg.
*koni-h1en
*koni-h1én-
*koni-h1n-és
*koni-h1én
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
kany
kanyánām
> *kanīnas1
*koni-‘freshness’→kany-‘virgin,girl’
c) Thematicamphikinetic:
Latin
Nom.sg.
*-e/o-h1ō
*-e/o-h1on-
*-e/o-h1n-és
*-e/o-h1én
nāsus‘nose’→Nāsō‘havinga(big)nose’
>
-ō
-ōnem
-ōnis
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
d) Thematichysterokinetic:
Greek
Nom.sg.
*-e-h1ēn
*-e-h1en-
*-e-h1n-és
*-e-h1én
-9ν
-9να
φαλλfς‘penis’→Φαλλ9ν‘Dionysus’
>
-pνος
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
1
Gen.pl.kannām<*koni-h1n-.
8
6.ExpectedoutcomeofthePIEtypesinProto.ExpectedoutcomeofthePIEtypesinProto-Germanic
Germanic
Type1,amphikinetic:
Nom.sg.
*-ō
*-anun
*-niz
*-ini
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
Type2,hysterokinetic
Nom.sg.
*-ē(n)
*-inun
*-niz
*-ini
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
Type3a),individualizinghysterokinetic:
Nom.sg.
*-ē(n)
*-ēnun
*-iniz
*-ini
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
Type3b),individualizingamphikinetic:
Nom.sg.
*-ō
*-ōnun
*-aniz
*-ani
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
9
TheathematicHoffmann-typeshavenotleftanycleartracesinGermanic,sowegoto
type4c),Hoffmannthematicamphikinetic:
Nom.sg.
*-ō
*-ōnun
*-ōniz
*-ōni
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
Type4d),Hoffmannthematichysterokinetic:
Nom.sg.
*-ē(n)
*-ēnun
*-ēniz
*-ēni
Acc.sg.
Gen.sg.
Loc.sg.
Type1isthegeneraltypereconstructedfortheGermanicn-stem,andwassurely
continuedinGermanic.Thenom.sg.in*-ō,theacc.sg.in*-anunandtheloc.sg.in*-ini
arealldirectlycontinuedinthedaughterlanguages,andthezerograde*-n-thatwould
beusedintheotherweakcasesisneededinordertoexplainwordslikeONǫrn,OHG
arn‘eagle’,awordthatweknowwasaPIEamphikineticnom.sg.*h2érō,gen.sg.h2ernés
onthestrengthofHittiteharas–haranas.
Type2wouldcoincidewithtype1intheweakcases.Anacc.sg.in*-inuncannotbe
establishedforGermanic.ThatitneverthelesswascontinuedinGermanicismade
probablebytwofacts:1)ThatProto-Norsehasanom.sg.‹-aa›(/-ǣ/>ON-e/-i)in
additionto‹-ō
ō›2)ThattheParadebeispielforaPIEtype2,*h2uksen–h2uksnés(Vedic
uk}–uk}nás)iscontinuedinGermanicwiththezerograde*-n-inweakcases.
Type3a)wouldcoincidewithtype2inthenom.sg.Anacc.sg.in*-ēnunissurelynot
continuedanywhere.Theotherweakcaseswouldshowthesamedevelopmentaswhat
wewouldexpectfromtype1and2afterthegeneralizationofthestemvariant*-in-from
thedativetothegenitive.Acontinuationoftype3a)cannotbeestablished.
10
Type3b)wouldcoincidewithtype1inthenom.sg.Theweakcaseswith*-an-arethe
onesfoundthroughoutNorthGermanicandIngveonic,whereasanacc.sg.in*-ōnuncan
nowherebefound.Thefactthatweakcaseformsin*-an-wasgeneralizedingreatparts
oftheGermanicareashowsthatthistypemusthavebeenprominent,anditconcurswith
thefactthatindividualizingn-stemsinGermanicwereespeciallyfrequent.Type3b)
surelycontinued.
Type4c)wouldbehomonymouswiththenewlycreatedfeminineōn-steminGermanic.
MasculinenounsdonotshowanysuchdeclensionwithveryrareexceptionslikeON
Sturla.Probablynotcontinued.
Type4d)notcontinued.
Theprobablen-stemclassesinProto-Germanicwerethus:
Amphikinetic
Hysterokinetic
Individualizing
Nom.sg.
*-ō
*-ē
*-ō
Acc.sg.
*-anun
*-anun
*-anun
Dat.sg.
*-ini
*-ini
*-ani
Gen.sg.
*-(i)niz
*-(i)niz
*-aniz
7.Theoriginofaba
NowthatwehaveestablishedthreedifferentGermanicn-stems,weneedtofindout
whichgroupitbelongedtoinordertopinpointitsderivationalhistory.
Individualizing
Theonegroupthatstandsoutasmostdifferentistheindividualizingclass,where*-an-
wasusedinallcasesoutsidethenom.sg.Sinceabashows-n-intheweakcasesinthe
plural,abacouldonlycomefromthisgroupifitcanbeshownthatoriginal
individualizingn-stemscouldsecondarilyacquiresuffixablautinanalogywiththetwo
11
othertypes.WeknowthatthisindividualizinggroupcoulddevelopVernervariantslike
*hasan-,*hazan-‘hare’,anindividualizationfromPIE*~asó-‘grey’.Vernervariants
appearinclasseslikethem.a-stemtoo,wherewedon’tpositanyablautforGermanic,
andamobileaccentdoesanywaynotprovesuffixablaut.Theonlyprimeexampleof
suffixablautforanoriginalindividualizingstemis*beran-/bern-‘bear’,asitispractically
uniformlytakentobederivedfromanunderlyingPIEadjective*bhero-‘brown’,butthis
derivationcarrieswithitmajordifficulties.2Regardlesstheetymologicalhistoryof
Germanic*beran-,ifitdidsecondarilyacquiresuffixablaut,itwouldratherbeinanalogy
fromalltheotherexamplesofanimalnamesshowingoriginalablautinthen-stemsuffix
as*aran-/arn-‘eagle’,*bulan-/buln-‘bull’,*urzen-/urzn-‘themaleanimal’and*uhsen-
/uhsn-‘ox’,anexplanationthatpossiblycouldapplyto*hasan-/hazn-‘hare’also,butnot
toaba.
Hysterokinetic
Ifabahadanoriginalhysterokineticinflection,itwouldstraightforwardlyaccountforthe
caseswith-n-intheweakcases.However,asthegivenexamplesofhysterokinetic
inflectionhaveshown(*wh1en‘lamb’,*h1sen‘themale’,*h2uksen‘ox’),therootwould
appearinthezero-grade,whichshouldhavegivenusGermanic*fen-or*ben-(<PIE
*Hpén-or*Hbhén-),unlessweinvokeanadhoc‘anti-monosyllabicity’constraintonthis
development.
2
ThisthematicadjectiveshowsuponlyinBaltic,butthereasunderlying*bhēro-.Thisformwithalong
vowelcanunderlietheGermanicformsonlyifwepositanOsthoff-shorteningaftertheanalogical
introductionofzero-gradeformsofthesuffix.InallotherIndo-Europeanforms,thereareonly
reduplicatedand/orsuffixedformswithzero-gradeofaroot*bher-thatappear,whichindicatesthatthere
issomeunderlying*bher-‘bebrown?’‘browncolor?’instead,fromwhichBaltic*bhēro-thenwouldbea
regularvrddhi-formation.TheGermanic*beran-isthenbettertakenasaprimaryn-stemorHoffmannformationtothisroot,afterwhichtheGermanicablautisregular,andwhichremovesitfromtheGermanic
individualizingclassaltogether.It’sfurtherpossiblethat*beran-istheindividualizedformoftheathematic
PIE*€hwer-‘wildanimal’,whichalsowouldmakeitanamphikinetictype.
12
Amphikinetic
Aswiththehysterokineticinflection,anamphikineticinflectionwouldaccountforthe
weakcaseswith-n-,andwewouldn’thaveanyproblemwiththestructureoftheroot,as
anoriginalamphikineticinflectionwouldgiveus*Hép/bhon-/Hep/bhn-´>ProtoGermanic*aban-/abn-.TheevidenceinGermanicsuggeststhereforethatababelonged
totheamphikinetictypeinProto-Germanic.
8.PIEetymologyofaba
Thebestassumptionfortheetymologyistotreatitasaprimaryamphikineticn-stemasit
surfacesinProto-Germanic.Ithaslongbeenrootetymologizedto*h3ep-‘do,make’
withoutanexplanationofitsderivation.Itcouldbetakenasanomenagentisformation
fromtheverbalrootseenintheSabellicperfect*ps-inthesamewayasthePIE
amphikinetic*tét~on-/tet~n-´‘carpenter’isderivedfrom*tet~-‘topound,carpenter’,as
seeninVedicták}-→ták}ān-,Greekτ„κτων.*h3épon-wouldthenhaveameaning
‘performer’orsimilar.Theproblemswithsuchaderivationarefirstthatanomenagentis
derivationstraightfromtheverbalrootwithaprimaryn-suffixhasnotbeenestablished
forPIE,secondthattheunderlyingverbisnotattestedinGermanic,infactnowhere
outsideSabellic.
Thereisanacrostaticheteroclitic*h3óp-/*h3ép-n-“wealth,riches,possession”
withnumerousderivativesinAnatolianalongsideLatinopulentus‘rich’andVedic
ápnas-‘property’.Weknowthroughgoodexamplesthattheseneuterheterocliteswitha
stemending*-inthestrongcasesand*-(e)n-intheweakcasescouldhaveanimate
(masculine)amphikineticn-stemsmadetothembymeansofinternalderivation,giving
thederivativeapossessivemeaning:
•
*h3r€-/h3r€-n-‘power’(OldAvestanrāzar)→*h3r€-on-/*h3r€-n-´‘having
power’→‘king’(Vedicrjān-/rjñ-)
•
*h1óHdh-/h1éHdh-n-‘udder’(GreekοŽθαρ)→*tri-h1éHdh-on-/*-h1uHdh-n-´
‘havingthreeudders’(Vedictri-dhán-)
13
•
*péH-w/piH-wén-‘fat’(Greekπ’αρ)→*péHw-on-/piHu-n-´‘havingfat’
(Greekπ“ων)
•
*h2érh3-w/*h2h3-wén-‘grain’(OldIrisharbar)→*h2érh3w-on-/h2h3u-n-´
‘havinggrain’→‘field’(Armenianharawownk”)
Ifwedothesamewith*h3óp-/*h3ép-n-,wewouldgetanamphikineticderivative
h3ép-on-/*h3ep-n-´‘havingwealth,riches,possession’,where‘theonepossessingthe
riches(inthefamily)’naturallywoulddesignatethepaterfamilias.ThePIEbasewould
giveProto-Germanic*afan-/abn-,whichaftertheregulargeneralizationofoneofthe
Verner-variantswouldpreciselygiveGothicaba(abn-)aswellascomplywithits
meaning‘husband’andtheOldNorsemeaning‘malefamilymemberwithhereditary
status’.
Thisderivationgainsstrengthfromthefactthat*h3óp-/*h3ép-n-seemstohave
servedasthebaseforotherderivationsinGermanic,asseenin*h3op-r-ó-‘havingriches,
property’>Germanicabra-‘powerful,strong’(Gothicabrs,ONafr-)and*h3ep-n-io-
‘thatofproperty,possession’>Germanic*af/bnija-‘stuff,material’(ONefni).
14