Re: Slavic endings

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:

>
> This has probably been referred to many, many times on cybalist, but

I am seeking a definitive answer (and the search function on cybalist
gives me trouble because it's hard to isolate this subject matter,
I've tried already).

>
> 1. What is the origin of Common Slavic *-U the nom./acc. sg. of

masc. o-stems? I think I once read that it comes from the accusative
*-om which became *-U due to nasalization. But then what about the
neuters with *-om (next question)?

> 2. What is the origin of Common Slavic *-o the nom./acc. sg. of

neuter o-stems? I believe I've read that it is held to have come from
*-od which is an importation from the pronouns -- correct? But why do
neuter s-stems also have *-o in their nom./acc. sg., while retaining
*-es- in other cases and numbers?

> 3. What is the origin of Common Slavic *-u the dative singular of

o-stems? How can this go back to *-o:i?

> 4. What is the origin of Common Slavic *-y the genitive singular

and nominative plural of a:-stems? How can this go back to *-a: +
*-es/os?

> 5. What is the origin of the Slavic ending *-e of the dative

singular of a:-stems?

> 6. Why does the genitive plural of a:-stems have no ending in

modern Slavic languages?

> 7. Why do a:-stems have a separate accusative ending, but o-stems

do not?

> 8. Why does OCS have <kamy> "stone" with <-y> from *-o:n, but

*-a:m becomes <-o,> (nasalized /o/)? Wouldn't both have evolved from
proto-Slavic nasalized *a:?

>
> I hope someone will be willing to answer these questions, as I

find the Slavic inflectional endings to be mysterious when compared to
the IE endings.

>

This might povide some answers:
http://tinyurl.com/osq96

Schmalstieg, as far as understand, toyed with the idea of
constructing the thematic endings by adding *-en-/-on- (ie.
the n-stem element) to the stem before the case endings.
(Which means the thematic vowel is actually PPIE *-an-,
leaving room for a PPIE *a -> PIE *a).
He ends up with a lot of "sandhi variants" that people
criticize.


Torsten