Nasal infix
The nasal infix is a reconstructed nasal consonant or syllable *⟨n(é)⟩ that was inserted (infixed) into the stem or root of a word in the Proto-Indo-European language. It has reflexes in several ancient and modern Indo-European languages. It is one of the affixes that marks the present tense.
Proto-Indo-European
In the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE), the nasal infix *⟨n(é)⟩ is one of several means to form the athematic present tense. It is inserted immediately before the last consonant of the zero-grade root.
The infix appeared as *⟨né⟩ in the forms where a full-grade stem would be expected, and as *⟨n⟩ in forms where zero-grade would be expected. For example, the PIE root *weik- "to win" would yield a nasal-infixed present stem *wi⟨né⟩k- ~ *wi⟨n⟩k-.[1][2]
These presents are called nasal infix presents or simply nasal presents and are typically active transitive verbs,[3] often with durative aspect.[1]
Origins
Since the linguistic ancestor of PIE is not known, there can only be speculations about the origins of the nasal infix. It has been suggested that it arose from a suffix (also related to *-neH- and *-neu-) which underwent metathesis.[1][4]
Other present tense markers
Besides the nasal infix, PIE employs a number of affixes to mark the present: *-u-, *-neu-, *-neH-, *-sḱe-, *-de-, and others. All in all, PIE has at least 18 ways to form the present tense.[5] For many verbs, several of these presents can be reconstructed simultaneously. For example, Scottish Gaelic loisg "to burn" goes back to *l̥h₂p-sḱé-, a sḱe-present of the root *leh₂p- which is also the source of Ancient Greek λάμπειν (lámpein) "to shine" via its nasal present *l̥h₂⟨n⟩p-.[6]
It is not clear why there were so many different types of present forms with no or little discernible differences in meaning. The authors of the Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben proposed that they were derived from a number of prior grammatical aspects with distinct (but lost) meanings.[7]
Indo-European languages
The effects of the nasal infix can be seen in Indo-European languages like Latin, Lithuanian, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit and Slavic languages.
In Latin, Ancient Greek and other daughter languages, the *n was assimilated to m before labial consonants (b, p), and to ŋ, spelled n in Latin and γ in Ancient Greek, before velar consonants (g, k, qu).[8] Latin rūpit "has broken" / rumpit "breaks", from *rup- / *ru⟨n⟩p-, is an example of the first case.[9][10]
Latin
Latin has a number of verbs with an n in the present stem which is missing in the perfect stem:[11]
- vīcit "has won" / vincit "wins" (from the PIE verb above)
- contudit "has crushed" / contundit "crushes"
- scidit "has cut" / scindit "cuts"
Latin loanwords
English and the other Germanic languages show only vestiges of the nasal infix. The only certain remaining example is English stand, with the past tense stood lacking the n.[12] However, it can still be seen in some pairs of Latin loanwords:[13]
- confuse – confound (Latin confundō)[14]
- impact – impinge (Latin impingō, from in- + pangō)[15]
- conviction – convince (Latin con-vincō)[16]
Slavic languages
Only vestiges are left, like Russian лечь (*lekti [root "leg"])(to lie down) : лягу (*lęgǫ)(I will lie down), сесть (*sĕsti [root "sĕd"])(to sit down) : сяду (*sędǫ)(I will sit down) (both e:en).[17]
Examples
This table shows some examples of PIE root aorists (without an infix), their infixed present forms and the reflexes (corresponding forms) in an attested daughter language.
| PIE[18] | Reflexes in daughter languages (3rd person singular) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aorist | Present | Language | Aorist/perfect† | Present | Translation (present) |
| *ǵʰ(e)ud- | *ǵʰu⟨n(e)⟩d- | Latin | fūdit | fundit | pours[19] |
| *l(e)ikʷ- | *li⟨n(e)⟩kʷ- | Latin | līquit [ˈliːkʷit] | linquit [ˈliŋkʷit] | leaves, quits[20] |
| *sl(e)h₂gʷ- | *slh₂⟨n(e)⟩gʷ- (?‡) | Ancient Greek | ἔ-λαβε (é-labe) | λαμβάνει (lambánei) | takes[21][8] |
| *y(e)ug- | *yu⟨n(e)⟩g- | Sanskrit | a-yujat | yunákti | joins[22] |
†The Latin reflexes of the PIE aorist came to be used as the perfect.[23]
‡It is uncertain whether *sleh₂gʷ- had a nasal infix already in PIE, since Greek λαμβάνω is only attested after Homer.
Quenya
In J. R. R. Tolkien's constructed language Quenya, the nasal infix forms the past tense of verbs ending in any consonant besides -m, -n, or -r. Thus, cen- "to see" has the past tense cen-në, but mat- "to eat" has not *mat-në but the metathesised ma⟨n⟩t-ë.[24]
References
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Baldi 1999, p. 372
- ↑ Rix 2001, p. 670
- ↑ Fortson 2004, p. 88
- ↑ Milizia 2004
- ↑ Rix (2001:14–20)
- ↑ Rix (2001:402)
- ↑ Rix (2001:36–37)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Smyth 1920, §523
- ↑ Petschenig (1971:435)
- ↑ Rix (2001:510–511)
- ↑ Petschenig 1971, pp. 138, 442, 533
- ↑ Ringe (2006:78)
- ↑ Rix (2001:670, 547–548, 510–511)
- ↑ "confound". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House.
- ↑ Harper, Douglas. "impact". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ↑ Harper, Douglas. "convince". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ↑ Reformatskij 1996
- ↑ Rix (2001:179, 406–407, 566, 316)
- ↑ Petschenig (1971:227)
- ↑ Petschenig (1971:298)
- ↑ Schäfer & Zimmerman 1990, p. 271
- ↑ Vedabase: yunakti
- ↑ Fortson (2004:250)
- ↑ Fauskanger 2003
Bibliography
- Baldi, Philip (22 January 1999). The Foundations of Latin. Trends in Linguistics. Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016294-6.
- Fauskanger, Helge Kåre (February 2003). "lesson 6". Quenya Course.
- Fortson, Benjamin W., IV (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-0316-7.
- Milizia, Paolo (2004). "Proto-Indo-European Nasal Infixation Rule". Journal of Indo-European Studies 32 (3&4): 337–359.
- Petschenig, Michael (1971). Der kleine Stowasser (in German). Vienna: Oldenbourg Schulbuchverlag. pp. 138, 442, 533.
- Reformatskij, A (1996). Введение в языкознание [An introduction to linguistics] (in Russian). Moscow.
- Rix, Helmut (2001). Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben (in German). Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. ISBN 3-89500-219-4.
- Schäfer, Karl-Heinz; Zimmermann, Bernhard (1990). Taschenwörterbuch Altgriechisch (in German) (3 ed.). Munich: Langenscheidt. ISBN 3-468-10031-0.
- Smyth, Herbert Weir (1920). A Greek Grammar for Colleges. Retrieved 5 January 2014 – via Perseus Project.
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