Singulativen‐stems in indo‐european

Abstract

Most Indo‐European n‐stem nouns are either individualizing, e.g. Avestan marətan‐ ‘mortal’, i.e. ‘the dead one’, or they denote body parts, e.g. Greek ōlḗn ‘elbow’. In this article, it is argued that most Indo‐European n‐stems denoting body parts originally had a singulative function, denoting a single instance of a body part of which the body has more than one. This analysis allows us to connect the ‘body part’ function of the Indo‐European suffix *‐n‐ to its well‐established individualizing function. The following evidence in favour of a singulative suffix *‐n‐ will be discussed: (1) the productive singulative suffix *‐(e)n‐i̯o‐ in Celtic; (2) suppletive paradigms in various Indo‐European languages in which a singular is (based on) an n‐stem, e.g. Armenian duṙn, pl. durk‘ ‘door, gate’, Gothic kaurno ‘single grain’, kaurn ‘corn’, Russian súdno, pl. sudá ‘vessel’; and 3) words for body parts naturally occurring in pairs or larger quantities which are attested with and without the nasal suffix, e.g. Armenian akn, Gothic augo and Old Prussian agins ‘eye’, but without a nasal Greek ósse and Old Church Slavic oči ‘eyes’.

Grammatical Number in Welsh: Diachrony and Typology

“…I argue that ‐ yn/‐en are best described as individuating suffixes whose functions depend on the base to which they are added. This accords well with the history of the Indo‐European nominal suffix *‐ n ‐ as outlined by Pronk () and discussed further below. Cuzzolin () proposed three different hypotheses which I have schematized as follows (using only the masculine suffix ‐ yn as an example):

…”

“…Each of these functions of ‐ yn /‐ en is analysed in detail below. This view of multiple functions determined by the base gains support from Pronk’s () treatment of singulative n ‐stems in Indo‐European. He shows that a Proto‐Indo‐European nominal suffix *‐ n ‐ had several related functions, all centred around individuation.…”

“…Avestan marətan ‐ ‘mortal’ (lit. ‘the dead one’) (Pronk : 327). With verbal roots, n ‐stem derivatives are usually agent nouns, e.g.…”

“…The Welsh suffixes ‐ yn/‐en have a similar function with adjectival and verbal bases, as discussed in 4.3.4 below. Pronk (: 327–8) also lists derivatives with the meaning ‘belonging to, of the’. Another pattern found in many Indo‐European languages is for this *‐ n ‐ to derive nouns for parts of the body, e.g.…”

“…There are some examples of a similar function of the nasal suffix in Germanic as well as Slavic, e.g. Gothic kaurn ‘corn, grain’ (o‐stem)/ kaurno ‘single grain’ (n‐stem) (Pronk : 330, 343).…”