Guus Kroonen
Roots of Europe Course
18 November 2014
Copenhagen University
A source that no longer exists
“The Sanskrit language […] is of a wonderful
structure, more perfect than Greek, more
copious than Latin, and more exquisitely refined
than either; yet bearing to both of them a
stronger affinity […] that could possibly have
been produced by accident; so strong, indeed,
that no philologer could examine all three
without believing them to have sprung from
some common source which perhaps no longer
exists.”
Regular Sound Correspondences
Is this the whole story?
“There is a similar reason, though not quite so
forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and
the Celtic, though blended with a very different
idiom, had the same origin with the
Sanskrit.”(also William Jones, 1786)
Linguistic Substrates (A>Ab>aB>B)
How Indo-European is Germanic?
• 0% non-Indo-European (Schuhmann 2012):
“No word that can only be explained as a
substrate word. The myth that in Germanic there
is a particularly high percentage of substrate
words should be given up once and for all.”
• 15% without a clear IE etymology, 4-5% non-IndoEuropean (Kroonen 2013)
• 10-50 % non-Indo-European (Roberge 2010)
• 33% non-Indo-European (Hawkins 2009)
• 60% non-Indo-European (Beekes, p.c.)
Vennemann: Atlantic/Semitidic
Vennemann: Vasconic
Methodological fallacies
• Baldi & Page (2006):
–
–
–
–
Considering known/attested languages only
Absence of systematic sound correspondences
Downplaying of semantic differences
Lexical cherry-picking
• Ergo: Vennemann’s corpus probably largely consists of
false positive matches:
–
–
–
–
Old Norse Baldr (a god), Hebr. Baᶜal ‘lord’
G Rabe, E raven < *hraban-, Arab. ġurāb- ‘raven’
E knife, OFr. canif, Bsq. kanibet
G Eis-vogel, Bsq. *iz ‘water’
Lexical Cherry-Picking (Trask 1997)
Basque
Hungarian
-a
def. article
a
def. article
aita
father
atya
father
bake
peace
béke
peace
egiaz
truthfully
igaz
true, real
erreka
stream
árok
ditch, trench
hiru
three
három
three
kohat
bellows (of a forge)
kohó
forge
kontu
care, attention
gond
care, attention
etc.
Sixty “matches” after only a couple hours of work! Conclusion: without regular
sound correspondences you can probably link any two languages.
Prehistoric Loanword Methodology
• No clear Indo-European etymology
– Beekes (passim)
• Specific semantic domains (e.g. local flora & fauna,
geographical terms, etc.)
– Polomé (1986), Hawkins (2009), Schrijver (1997)
• Discrepant phonotactics vis-à-vis Indo-European
– Polomé (1986, 1989, 1990), Hamp (1979), Huld (1990),
Salmons (1992, 2004), Boutkan (1998), Lubotsky (2001),
Matasović (2012)
• Recurring non-Indo-European patterns:
– Kuiper (1995), Schrijver (1997, 2007; 2012), Witzel (1999),
Kroonen (2012), Beekes (2014)
Prehistoric Loanword Methodology
• Comparison of three pre-historic loanword case studies in
current historical linguistics:
–
–
–
–
–
Germanic
Celtic
Saami
Greek
Vedic
• Three more linguistically falsifiable tools:
– Recurring sound alternations within a language
– Recurring non-inherited morphs
– Irregular sound correspondences within language sub-group or
within related neighboring languages
Lacking etymology = loanword
• More than half of the Germanic lexicon is of
non-IE provenance (Beekes, p.c.)
– Because the IE etymology is lacking
• Heggarty (2013, Talking Neolithic Workshop,
MPI-EVA): “Why does a word without an
etymology have to be a substrate word?”
– An IE word may have been preserved in one single
daughter language and lost elsewhere
Isolating Semantic Fields
• Seafaring terminology without clear etymologies
J.A. Hawkins (2009):
–
–
–
–
–
–
*nurþra- ‘to the north’
*saiwi- ‘sea’
*baita- ‘boat’
*segla- ‘sail’
*skipa- ‘ship’
etc.
Isolating Semantic Fields
• Seafaring terminology without clear etymologies
J.A. Hawkins (2009):
–
–
–
–
–
–
*nurþra- ‘to the north’, cf. Gr. enérteros ‘lower’
*saiwi- ‘sea’ < PIE *séikw- ‘to drip, flow’
*baita- ‘boat’ < PGm. *bītan- ‘to dig out’
*segla- ‘sail’, cf. OIr. séol ‘sail’ < *segh-lo*skipa- ‘ship’ << Lat. scyphus << Gr. σκύφος ‘vessel’
etc.
• Virtually all examples are false negatives (cf.
Schuhmann 2012)
Non-Inherited Phonotactics
• PIE did not have a *b, so all Proto-Germanic
words with *p (Grimm’s Law) must be from a
non-Germanic , non-Celtic Indo-Euroepan
language (Kuhn’s “Nordwestblock”, 1959; 1962)
– *plōga- ‘plow’
– *piþan- ‘pith; root’
– *pissōn- ‘to piss’
• Note the iconicity problem
– *pinka- ‘little finger’ (= PIE *penkwe ‘5’?)
Partraige in Ireland (Schrijver 2000)
• Part-raige means ”Crab People”, cf. part-án ’crab’
(with suffix as in e.g. scat-án ’herring’)
• Together with Catt-raige ”Cat People”, Art-raige
”Bear People”, Gab-raige “Goat People” etc. they
appear as so-called aithechthuatha, i.e. ’vassalpeoples’ = subjected tribes
• The Partraige populated the infertile and
mountainous region round Loch Mask which has
the hallmarks of a refuge area.
– NB: This is almost exactly where the last Irish speaking
communities are located in our time
Loch Mask in Co.
Mayo and Co.
Galway
Words with p and unlenited stops
• part-án ’crab’, pell ’horse’, petta ’pet’, pluc
’cheek’, pata ’hare’
• NB: In Latin loanwords, p is substituted by kʷ
until the fifth century as Irish did not have this
sound:
– Lat. Pascha >> OIr. Cásc, purpura >> corcur,
Patricius >> Cothriche, planta >> clann ’offspring’
• From the sixth century onwards, p is retained:
– Patricius >> Pádraic ’Patrick’, pācem >> póc ’kiss’
Language of the ”Crab People”
• A non-Indo-European language spoken in the
marginally habitable areas of Ireland
• It survived until at least the sixth century
– Otherwise **cortán is expected for actual partán
• It is was the source of many Irish words
containing p or unlenited stops
• The number of items belonging to fishing
terminology is strikingly high, cf. bradán
‘salmon’, scadán ‘herring’, gliomach ‘lobster’
Non-Saami Layer (Aikio 2012)
• 1/3 of the Saami lexicon is non-Uralic
• Semantic fields: local flora & fauna,
topography, climate
• Non-Uralic phonotactics in North Saami:
– uffir ‘rocky seashore’, skuolfi ‘owl’, fierbmi ‘fishing
net’ (no *f in PFU)
– skávdu ‘2-year old seal’, spáhčču ‘bunch of sinewthread’ skier’ri ‘dwarf beech’ (initial clusters not
allowed in PFU)
Non-Saami Layer (Aikio 2012)
• Irregular simplification of clusters in the dialects:
– N láhhpu vs. L sláhhpo ‘thick sinew-thread’, N liessu
‘lair of a fox’ vs. S plieasoe ‘den, lair’, etc.
• Irregular alternation of s and š between West and
East Saami:
– S saasne ‘rotten tree’ vs. N šošnn ‘dead pine-tree’, S
satnje ‘fishing net’ vs. Sk. šaannj ‘rag’, etc.
• Identification of non-Saami morphs:
– *-ērē ‘mountain’: N top. Gealbir, Hoalgir, Jeahkir,
Nuhppir, Nussir, Ruohtir, Váhčir, etc.
A. Aikio, 2012, An
essay on Saami
ethnolinguistic
prehistory, p. 64.
Conclusions (Aikio 2012)
• A non-Uralic language spoken in Lapland when
the different Saami languages arrived there
around before 500 AD.
• Words adopted from this language by the
Saami were contemporaneous with the latest
Old Norse loanwords (600 AD at latest)
• It is possible that preaspiration spread from
this language to both Saami and Nordic.
– For preaspiration, cf. Icelandic rokk [rᴐʰk] ’rock’.
Preaspiration in Northern Europe
Non-Inherited Layer in Greek
• “1000 Pre-Greek etyma” (Beekes 2010)
• Semantic fields: local flora & fauna, “landscape
terms”, agriculture, architecture, social
stratification, religion, names
• A wide variety of non-IE features in the
phonotactics, e.g. non-IE geminates, CVCVC-root
structure instead of PIE CVC-:
– thálatta ‘sea’
– Odusseús ‘Ulysses’
– bélekkos ‘chickpea’
Irregularities Alternations
• Many forms of obscure dialectal alternations:
– dáphnē : láphnē ‘laurel’ (d:l, cf. Lat. laurus)
– blẽkhnon : blẽkhron ‘fern’ (b, cf. OSw. brækne)
– abrutós : ámbruttos ‘sea urchin’ (prenasalization,
irregular gemination)
– kolúbdaina : kolúmbaina ‘kind of crab’ (bd:mb)
– agerrakábos : agrákabos : agerrákomon ‘bunch of
grapes’ (b, m:b, single:double r)
Non-Inherited Morphs
• The suffix -inth- / -īth- / -īd- (prenasalization):
– gálinthos : gálithos : gélinthos : gérinthos ‘chickpea’
– hélmis, gen. hélminthos : hélmingos : acc. hélmitha : pl.
líminthes ‘intestinal worm, helminth’
– trémithos : términthos : terébinthos ‘turpentine tree’
– huákinthos ‘hyacinth’
– labúrinthos : Myc. dapurito ‘labyrinth’
– áglis, gen. áglithos ‘garlic’
– órobos : erébinthos ‘pea; chickpea’ (suffixation)
Comparing Neighboring Substrates
• By tracing irregular correspondences between
related languages, you can identify non-IndoEuropean elements (as in the Saami family)
• Schrijver (1997) discovered that quite a few nonIndo-European words have an a-prefix in one
language, but zero in another.
– G Amsel ’blackbird’ < *a-msl : Lat. merula < *mesl– ON ørt ’ore’ < *a-rud : Lat. raudus < *raud– Welsh erfin ’turnip’ < a-rp- : Lat. rāpum < *rāp-
• NB: prefixed forms may lose their root vowel
PROTO-INDOEUROPEAN
GERMANIC
CELTIC
GREEK
ITALIC
LANGUAGE X (with a-prefixation)
SCAND. C.EUR.
BALKANS
ANATOLIA
…
Comparing Neighboring Substrates
Item
Greek
pea
órobos <
ervum <
*orob- :
*erw
erébinthos <
*ereb-indh
sand
ámathos
: sabulum <
psámmathos *sadh: psámmos <
*sam(-n̥dh)
gourd /
cucumber
lentil
Latin
cucurbita <
*kukurbit
láthuros
*ln̥dh-ur-
< lēns, lentis <
*ln̥t-
Celtic
Germanic
Balto-Slavic
G Erbse <
*orw-īd
NoteEthat
Pre-Gm.
sand,
*md MHG
> PGm.
*nd:
sampt
*hunda‘100’h-<
< *samd
*ḱmt-ó- vs. G sanft <
*sam(f)þ- < *sóm-tOE hwerwette <
*kʷerkʷád
(G Linse =
Lat. lent-)
Comparing Neighboring Substrates
Item
Greek
bean
hemp
bison,
wisent
crayfish,
crab
lead
Latin
Germanic
Balto-Slavic
faba <
*bhabh
The suffix of
kánnabis <
kábouros was no
*kannabi
doubt remodeled
after índouros ‘mole’,
skíouros ‘squirrel’,
kíllouros ‘wagtail’,
kóllouros ‘a fish’;
kám(m)aros,
sílouros ‘catfish or
kábouros <
sturgeon’.
*kam(m)ar,
*kabar-
G Bohne <
*bhaw-(n)-
OCS bobъ <
*bhabh-
mólubdos,
mólibos <
*molubd,
*molib
G Blei <
*mlīw
plumbum <
*plumdh-
Celtic
lúaide <
ploud(h)-
E hemp <
Ru. konoplja
*kanabi
< *kanapi
Ru. zubr < *dzumbr,
dial. izubr
*(u)i- wiG Wisent
< <OPru.
dzumbr,
h- Lith.
*wi-sund
ssambras <
stum̃ bras < *wi-somb
*stumbr, h
Latv. sumbrs <
ON*(t)sumbr
humar < (Kroonen
*kumar2012)
Comparing Neighboring Substrates
Item
Greek
blackbird
Latin
Celtic
merula <
*mesal
W mwalch < G Amsel <
*mesal
*a-msl-
sturgeon
turnip
ore
clover
ráp(h)us <
*rap(h)
rāpa < *rāp
raudus <
Georg. sam-qura
*raud
‘clover’, lit. “3-ear”: a
false-positive?
Borrowing as
*semh₁r- / *smeh₁rconceivable?
Balto-Slavic
G Störe <
*str-
Ru. osëtr <
*a-setr
MIr. seisc <
*sesk-
E sedge <
*sak-
Ru. osóka <
*a-sak
W erfin <
*a-rp
G Rübe <
*rāp
Ru. répa <
*rēp
a-prefixation: *CVC - *a-CC
sedge
Germanic
OHG aruz <
*a-rud
OIr. seamar
< *semar-
ON smári <
*smēr
Vedic Substrate
• Roughly 4% of the Vedic lexicon is non-IE (Kuiper
1955)
• Semantic fields: local flora & fauna, agriculture,
artisanship, names
• Non-IE features in the phonotactics, e.g. non-IE
syllable structure or lack of regular retroflexion of
s after r, u, k, i:
–
–
–
–
busa- ‘chaff, fog?’
bīsa- ‘oven/pit with coals, volcanic cleft’
musala 'pestle’
kusīda- ‘lending money’
Recurring Non-IE Morphs
• Possible non-IE prefixes:
– jar-tila ‘wild sesame’, Atharvaveda tila ‘sesame’
– kumāra ‘boy, young man’, kuliśa ’axe’,
kuluṅga ‘antelope’, kulāya ’nest’
– kimīda ’demon’, śimidā ’female demon’,
kīnāśa ’ploughman’
– kākambīra ’a tree’, kakardu ’wooden stick’,
kapardin ’with a hair-knot’, karpāsa ’cotton’,
kavandha ’barrel’
• Compared to the article in Khasi (Austroasiatic),
masc. u-, fem. ka-, pl. ki- (Pinnow 1959: 14;
Kuiper 1995; Witzel 1999)
A Universal LW Detection Method
STAGE
1 isolated words
2 specific semantic fields
3 irregular phonotactics
4 irregular correspondences
5 systematic irregularity
6 recurring non-inh. morphs
7 links to neighb. substrates
8 source identified
Saami
Gmc.
Greek
Sanskrit
Inherited
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+/+
+/+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
+
+/-
+/+/-(+)
-( )
+
Discussion
• Roland Schuhmann (University of Jena): “No
word that can only be explained as a substrate
word.”
• Martin Haspelmath (MPI-EVA): “According to
Indo-Europeanists, when a word can be either
an inherited word or a loanword, an IndoEuropean origin must always be preferred.”