Schleicher's fable
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Schleicher's fable is a reconstructed text in Proto-Indo-European (PIE), published by August Schleicher in 1868. Schleicher was the first scholar to compose a text in PIE. The fable is entitled Avis akvasas ka ("The Sheep and the Horses"). Schleicher's reconstruction assumed that the o/e vocalism was secondary, and his PIE is much more closely based on Sanskrit than modern reconstructions.
Original text:
- Avis, jasmin varnā na ā ast, dadarka akvams, tam, vāgham garum vaghantam, tam, bhāram magham, tam manum āku bharantam. Avis akvabhjams ā vavakat; kard aghnutai mai vidanti manum akvams agantam. Akvāsas ā vavakant: krudhi avai, kard aghnutai vividvant-svas: manus patis varnām avisāms karnauti svabhjam gharmam vastram avibhjams ka varnā na asti. Tat kukruvants avis agram ā bhugat.
A second version of the same tale was composed by Hermann Hirt in 1939.
- Owis ek’wōses-kʷe
- owis, jesmin wьlənā ne ēst, dedork’e ek’wons, tom, woghom gʷьrum weghontm̥, tom, bhorom megam, tom, gh’ьmonm̥ ōk’u bherontm̥. owis ek’womos ewьwekʷet: k’ērd aghnutai moi widontei gh’ьmonm̥. ek’wons ag’ontmo . ek’wōses ewьwekʷont: kl’udhi, owei!, k’ērd aghnutai vidontmos: gh’ьmo, potis, wьlənām owjôm kʷr̥neuti sebhoi ghʷermom westrom; owimos-kʷe wьlənā ne esti. Tod k’ek’ruwos owis ag’rom ebhuget.
A third version was published by Winfred Lehmann and Ladislav Zgusta in 1979[1]:
- [Gwrei] owis, kwesyo wlhna ne est, ekwons espeket, oinom ghe gwrum woghom weghontm, oinomkwe megam bhorom, oinomkwe ghmenm oku bherontm. Owis nu ekwobh(y)os ewewkwet: Ker aghnutoi moi ekwons agontm nerm widntei. Ekwos tu ewewkwont: Kludhi, owei, ker aghnutoi nsmei widntbh(y)os: ner, potis, owiom r wlhnam sebhi gwhermom westrom kwrneuti. Neghi owiom wlhna esti. Tod kekluwos owis agrom ebhuget.
A fourth version appears in the EIEC (1997:501).
English translation:
- [On a hill,] a sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses". The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool". Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
Note that in the modernized version of "The Sheep and the Horses", a spelling convention is used which is different from the one introduced in the Proto-Indo-European language article: h and w are not superscripted to indicate aspiration and labialization. Also most laryngeals are omitted, and where given, the different laryngeals are not distinguished. The original version of "The Sheep and the Horses" uses Schleicher's spelling, which is influenced by Sanskrit, but uses j for y.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Scheicher's reconstructed text with a literal English gloss
- A message board thread about the fable and the validity or not of Schleicher's reconstruction
[edit] References
- Lehmann, W., and L. Zgusta. 1979. Schleicher's tale after a century. In Festschrift for Oswald Szemerényi on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, ed. B. Brogyanyi, 455–66. Amsterdam.
