[Rasmussen #39323:]
> There is also general acceptance of Dybo's law, the shift of the accent from a non-acute
vowel to the next, except in mobile paradigms. The process is not unlike Saussure's law
for Lithuanian, and Kortlandt's law for Old Prussian, only the restrictions differ. I have seen
no opposition to these laws.
[Vermeer #39419:]
> (iii) Kortlandt's law is by no means unopposed among the four (five?) specialists in Old
Prussian. To put it mildly.
[Rasmussen #39456:]
> How so? Kortlandt's observation that geminated spelling is regularly followed by accent
mark on vowels is a rare case of empirical proof. I am desperately behind in my reading.
Could you tell us some more?
[Vermeer #39477:]
> It's a general impression ...
> (A point observers tend not to like is the idea that geminated spelling points to stress
on the _following_ rather than the _preceding_ syllable, never mind the empirical proof.)
The impression is right, "Kortlandt's Law" is rather controversial. The law was advanced in
Kortlandt 1974. The references below may be of interest.
Outside Leiden the law is accepted by Rasmussen 1992 [1999]: 475 and Dybo 1982: 247;
1998: 6-7 (who presented the law in 1973, independently of Kortlandt (1982: 247 fn. 25;
1998: 6 fn. 4)!).
The law is rejected by Dini 1997 [2002]: 278; Parenti 1998, e.g. p. 136; Young 1999
[2000]; Schmalstieg 2000 [2001]; Kim 2002: 105 fn. 3.
Kortlandt 1999 is a reply to Parenti; Kortlandt 2000 is a reply to Young.
Thomas
References:
Dini 1997 [2002] = Pietro Umberto Dini, Le lingue baltiche (= Biblioteca di cultura 223.
Lingue d'Europa 5). Firenze 1997. [Quoted from: Russian translation, Moskva 2002. - I
haven't got access to the original, sorry!]
Dybo 1982 = V. A. Dybo, "Praslavjanskoe raspredelenie akcentnyx tipov v prezense
tematicheskix glagolov s kornjami na neshumnye (materialy k rekonstrukcii). I". - Balto-
slavjanskie issledovanija 1981. Moskva 1982: 205-261.
Dybo 1998 = V. A. Dybo, "O sisteme akcentnyx paradigm v prusskom jazyke (materialy k
akcentologii prusskogo jazyka. I)". - Slavjanovedenie 1998/3: 5-18.
Kim 2002 = Ronald I. Kim, Topics in the reconstruction and development of Indo-
European accent. Ann Arbor, Michigan 2002.
Kortlandt 1974 = F. H. H. Kortlandt, "Old Prussian Accentuation". - Zeitschrift für
vergleichende Sprachforschung 88 (1974): 299-306.
Kortlandt 1999 = F. H. H. Kortlandt, "Double consonants in Old Prussian". - Res Balticae 5
(1999): 75-80.
Kortlandt 2000 = F. H. H. Kortlandt, "The Prussian accent shift". - Baltistica 34/2 (2000):
193-197.
Parenti 1998 = Alessandro Parenti, "Old Prussian abstract nouns in -sna, -senna, -sennis".
- Baltistik: Aufgaben und Methoden. Heidelberg 1998: 129-142.
Rasmussen 1992 [1999] a = Jens Elmegård Rasmussen, "Die Vorgeschichte der
baltoslavischen Akzentuierung: Beiträge zu einer vereinfachten Lösung". - Bernd Barschel,
Maria Kozianka & Karin Weber (eds), Indogermanisch, Slawisch und Baltisch (= Slavistische
Beiträge 285). München 1992: 173-200. [Quoted from: Rasmussen, Selected papers, 2:
469-489.]
Schmalstieg 2000 [2001] = W. R. Schmalstieg, "Comments on a recent debate about Old
Prussian stress placement". - Baltistica 35/1 (2000 [2001]): 21-27.
Young 1999 [2000] = Steven Young, ""Kortlandt's hypothesis" and Old Prussian stress". -
Baltistica 34/1 (1999 [2000]): 5-15.