Re: PIE meaning of the Germanic dental preterit

From: Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
Message: 54420
Date: 2008-03-01

On Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:35:23 -0000, "alexandru_mg3"
<alexandru_mg3@...> wrote:

>--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
><miguelc@...> wrote:
>>
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>I.> Yes, we know that there was reduplication in PIE (and, to
>> lesser degree, in Proto-Germanic).
>
> And to a higher degree in Proto-Germanic (or at least similar)

Germanic has lost the reduplication in perfects of verbs
with *e-vocalism (i.e. the vast majority).

>III.
>> Maybe I
>> missed it, but given that none of these compounds with
>> *dheh1- have any kind of preterite meaning, how do you
>> explain the reason why "the Germanic weak preterite was
>> developed by Proto-Germanic based on several -dHeh1- 'verbal
>> construction' that existed in Proto-Germanic (some of them
>> originated directly from PIE)".
>
> The weak-preterite is for sure a Germanic construction not a PIE
>one.
>
> Now to answer to your question:
>
> The evolution was due to the semantism of dHeh1-compounds in PIE
>=> like 'mindset', 'heartset', 'ownset' -> self-possesion
>
> The main meaning of an <X-dHeh1> compound was not only : 'to
>locate, to place X' but in addition 'to continue to preserve/to
>ensure the preservation/to keep X where it was initially
>placed/located" (<X-dHeh1> was an 'emphatic' compound)
>
> => this semantism was generalized by Germanic to a special verbal
>aspect where the action (that initially generated already a state so
>is not an imperfect in relation with this) continue in order to
>preserve/to ensure/to keep unchanged/or-even-to-intensify the result
>of that action or the action in itself
>
>So I think that the semantic evolution is quite clear.

I'm sorry, but not to me. Your semantism sounds more like a
future than like a preterite to me.

>IV.
>> In trying to explain the origin of the Germanic weak
>> preterite, there are three fundamental questions that any
>> theory has to answer:
>> 1) what form of the verbal root are the dental endings added
>> to?
>> 2) what is the origin of the endings of the weak preterite?
>> 3) how does the combination of {base form of the verb} +
>> {dental endings} explain the usage as a preterite?
>>
>> Of the theories discussed here up to now, Jasanoff gives the
>> following answers:
>> 1) the stative in *-eh1-
>> 2) the middle perfect of *dheh1- (1/3sg. *dedai-, pl. *ded-)
>> 3) The meaning was "I became X".
>>
>> Kortlandt's theory:
>> 1) the past passive ptc. in *-tos
>> 2) the aorist of *dheh1- (*de:-n/s/þ, pl. (analogical)
>> de:d-um/ude/unþ)
>> 3) The meaning was "I did X".
>>
>> Rasmussen's theory (as presented by Piotr)
>> 1) the past passive ptc. in *-tos
>> 2) the imperfect of *dheh1- (*dide:-, with haplology in the
>> singular)
>> 3) The meaning was "I was doing X".
>>
>> (Since the correct answer to question (1) is surely "the
>> past ptc. in *-tos", Jasanoff's theory must be incorrect.)
>>
>> In your account above, I see no clear answer to any of the
>> three questions. What form of the verb are the dental
>> endings added to? What _exactly_ are those endings, and
>> where do they come from? What explanation do you have for
>> the preterite meaning?
>>
>> =======================
>> Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
>> miguelc@...
>
>
>Note:
>I wouldn't minize (as you did) any intention that has tried to
>present an evolution in time of a phenomenon and to link it
>organically with some aspects (as the disolution of reduplication in
>West Germanic ) => even the overall result could be sometimes a false
>one, it opens the space for relevant questions
>
>
>Now to answer to your question:
>
>Q1) what form of the verbal root are the dental endings added
>to?
> A1) - the past passive ptc. in *-tos

Well, I kind of biased that answer out of you ("Since the
correct answer to question (1) is surely "the past ptc. in
*-tos""). However, I didn't notice you mentioning the
participle earlier in this thread.

I should clarify why the past participle is the right
answer. The reason is given in Kortlandt's article
(quotation from Ball): "It is surely a remarkable fact that
the stem and dental of any and every weak verb are the same
in the preterite and past participle. This immediately
suggests either a common origin or that one is derived from
the other. Now, the -to- participle is an IE formation while
the weak preterite is Germanic, and, since a common origin
seems out of the question, if they are related at all the
dental preterite must be derived from the past participle."

In Jens' article "On the origin of the Germanic weak
preterite", the same argument is given: "Thus, Goth. [verbal
nouns in *-ti-] gamunds, mahts, frawaurhts, gakunþs/-þais
and the participles salboþs/-dis, us-waurhts, kunþs/-þis
etc. [], all have the same dental as the preterites munda,
mahta, waurhta, kunþa, salboda".

>--------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Q2) what is the origin of the endings of the weak preterite?
>
> A2) I have said above that they have 'a mixed origin'
>
>=> and I have indicated the French Subjonctive as a Live Example (for
>that ones that could have a doubt that something like this is
>possible)
>
>
> 2.a) For Sg. aorist of *dheh1-
> ------------------------------
> I have already indicated the aorist of *dheh1- (*de:-n/s/þ)
>see below:
>
> > > PIE *-dHo:m/*-dHe:m -> Gothic -da
> > > PIE *-dHe:s -> Gothic -de:s
> > > PIE *-dHe:t -> Gothic -da
>
> With the reserve:
> -> that this proposal didn't include the ON attested *-dai
>(see also that Gothic final -a could be originated from an -ai too)
>that I think that should be included in this equation (Jassanof is
>right here)
> So if I could find a phonetical match of all the endings of
>different Germanic Forms I would propose another solution immediately
>that could account for -dai (III.sg.)
> Currently I'm not able to do this.
>
>
> 2.b) For Pl. imperfect of *dheh1-
> ----------------------------------
> I have already said that the imperfect endings for Pl. fit better
>(for this reason I didn't repeat the PIE imperfect forms of -dHeh1
>already posted by Piotr)

But if the endings are a mix of aorist/imperfect, added to
the past participle, then that immediately explains why the
forms have preterite meaning. Like Jens says in the article
quoted above: "A functional explanation of Goth. satida <
Proto-Germanic *satiðe: 'he placed' that involves both the
participle satiþs < *satiða-z 'placed' and the old form of
_did_, PGmc. ðeðe:, does not have to go beyond the simple
fact that such a collocation means, not 'did place', but
'made placed'.". Exactly!

Jens goes on: "The participle would then be expected to have
originally agreed with the object so that, e.g., 'he placed
(planted) a tree' was *trewa satiða ðeðe:, and 'we planted a
tree' was *trewa satiða ðe:ðum". The further development is
then compared to French "j'ai écrit deux lettres" (for
"expected *'j'ai écrites deux lettres'"), like "j'ai écrit
une lettre" (for *'j'ai écrite une lettre').

This further development in any case also requires haplology
(sg. *satiða ðeðe: > *satiðe:, pl. *satiða ðe:ðum >
*satiðe:ðum), even in your (or Kortlandt's) formulation
(*satiða ðe: > *satiðe:, pl. *satiða ðe:ðum > *satiðe:ðum).

> Note: Mainly, I (only) refuted the supposed haplology in Sg.,
>haplology that didn't happened in Pl. (<Jens) and vice-versa the
>supposed analogy in pl., pl. that doesnt't fit the sg (<Kortlandt)
>(and I will add against the 'imperfect theory' that the weak-preterit
>is not quite 'an imperfect' -> see below)

An imperfect makes sense, given that PGmc. already had a
"punctual past" in the form of the old perfect. If another
past tense was to be created, chances are it would be an
imperfect (as in Latin, Slavic, Armenian, etc.)
Against an imperfect argues the fact that there is no
overlap (and no difference in meaning) between strong and
weak preterites in attested Gmc. Strong verbs of course
don't have a ptc. in *-to- (they have it in *-eno-), but the
question then is: what happened to the imperfect in *-ena
ðeðe:?


=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
miguelc@...