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Towards an Evidence-based Approach to Reconstructing ēode
Martin, Robert ; Čermák, Jan (advisor) ; Bičovský, Jan (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to review the generally accepted analysis of the origins of the Old English ēode, the suppletive preterite of the verb gān "to go", and its relation to iddja, its Gothic equivalent. For a central and also unifying approach, the paper turns to Warren Cowgill's article (1960) as well as a section in Seebold's etymological dictionary Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben (1960). The second chapter includes a summary of the behaviour of both verb's paradigms in both languages, in addition to relevant information about the languages themselves. It then discusses the etymologies of the source verbs, requisite morphological theory, and several key concepts of Indo-European linguistics. The second chapter concludes with a summary of Cowgill's and Seebold's reconstructions themselves, which are, in the third chapter, followed by a criticism of both approaches, with regards to their less explicitly stated assumptions especially. The chapter addresses instances where the notion of formal inadequacy is applied, then turns to the morphological phenomenon of hypercharacterization, and finally takes stock of the impact of the asymmetry in the approaches taken to both cognates. In the fourth chapter, a survey of the development in the paradigms of...
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Indo-European perspectives on Rigveda 1.32
Blabol, Jáchym ; Bičovský, Jan (advisor) ; Gális, Martin (referee)
(in English): This thesis is devoted to an annotated philological translation of RV 1.32 with the aim of displaying the themes and problems, that relate to translating such a text. It presents the hymn and the Rigveda itself, as well as the rest of the Vedic literature, in terms of its history and contents, with an emphasis on information relevant to Indo-European studies. It presents a comparison of the Rigveda with other ancient Indo-European written heritage and what such a comparison implies. Some unclear linguistic phenomena are subjected to further investigation and hypotheses for their resolution are raised. The translation includes a glossary with information on the meaning, etymology and morphology of featured lexemes.
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Verbal suppletion in Indo-European languages
Frantíková, Dita ; Bičovský, Jan (advisor) ; Elšík, Viktor (referee)
(in English): Typology of verbal suppletion on the ground of Indo-European languages is the focus of the thesis Verbal suppletion in Indo-European languages. The diachronic approach is of special interest. Description of verbal suppletion in the oldest stages of the IE languages and reconstruction of their Proto-Indo-European forms is thus aimed for (for each of the ten well-described IE language branches, one sample language is chosen, and its verbal system and suppletive verbal paradigms are described). Besides the descriptive data from individual language branches, the outcome of the thesis comprises the evaluation of the data by typological means from diachronic and synchronic view-point and its assessment in relation to frequency, semantic fields and Semantic relevance hierarchy. The thesis delivers a review of Proto-Indo-European roots in suppletive paradigms and their mutual relationships.
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Verbal suppletion in Indo-European languages
Frantíková, Dita ; Bičovský, Jan (advisor) ; Elšík, Viktor (referee)
(in English): Typology of verbal suppletion on the ground of Indo-European languages is the focus of the thesis Verbal suppletion in Indo-European languages. The diachronic approach is of special interest. Description of verbal suppletion in the oldest stages of the IE languages and reconstruction of their Proto-Indo-European forms is thus aimed for (for each of the ten well-described IE language branches, one sample language is chosen, and its verbal system and suppletive verbal paradigms are described). Besides the descriptive data from individual language branches, the outcome of the thesis comprises the evaluation of the data by typological means from diachronic and synchronic view-point and its assessment in relation to frequency, semantic fields and Semantic relevance hierarchy. The thesis delivers a review of Proto-Indo-European roots in suppletive paradigms and their mutual relationships.
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Hypostasis, Conversion, Categoriality
Židek, Jan ; Bičovský, Jan (advisor) ; Starý, Zdeněk (referee)
In modern linguistics since the 1970s, there seems to be a general shift from langue to parole and from discrete categories to more "blurry" ones. With it comes a need for revitalisation of some older terms that fell out of usage because of the fact that they describe something (seemingly) outside system. One such term is hypostasis, a synchronic phenomenon of word- formation under certain constrains (e.g. null derivation from an inflected form). This work's aim is to probe its usefulness in modern linguistics and the viability of its revitalisation. In this work, I agree with now generally accepted idea that every grammatical system is in itself inadequate with regard to completeness of its function, and that it needs from time to time adapt to new situational contexts through compensation strategies; some of the ways it does that can collectively be called "hypostasis".
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Evolution of phonological contrast in sibilants - typological analysis
Vančura, Martin ; Bičovský, Jan (advisor) ; Duběda, Tomáš (referee)
Martin Vančura - Diplomová práce (2012) Evolution of phonological contrat in sibilants - typological analysis Abstract: The goal of this paper is to employ the paradigm of Greenbergian language typology to process diachronic data originating in the field of historical linguistics. In the first few chapters, I discuss both disciplines and identify some of the pitfalls of such an endeavour. The substance of this paper lies in chapter 4 where I try to demonstrate a real utilization of this diachronic typology on a specific set of data, represented by documented cases of the evolution of sibilants. Then I analyse the precise articulatory and evolutionary character of the sibilants in selected branches of the Indo- European language family and selected languages of the world and I attempt to uncover the common evolutionary tendencies of their sibilant systems. At the end of this chapter, I construct a map of sibilants' evolutionary trajectories and I propose some remarks on the general phonetics and phonology of sibilants.
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The Intuitions of the Comparative Method
Bičovský, Jan ; Vavroušek, Petr (advisor) ; Kurzová, Helena (referee) ; Pultrová, Lucie (referee)
The thesis aims to identify and explain the weak - the "blind" spots of the Comparative Method and Internal Reconstruction as they are used in the traditional historical linguistics, the prime example of which is Indo-European linguistics. As in language, even in science the best explanation may be the historical one - here the development of the method is followed briefly from the pre-scientific era up to late structuralism and the state-of-the- art of the 3rd millennium. It appears clear that the methods are based mostly on the same intuitions that serve the speaker to acquire any language and are prone to have biases that are useful for speakers but tend to ignore certain solutions that are counter-intuitive. The original aim of the methods was quite different from what it is now - and the debate still continues as to whether the proto-language is anything more than a formula, a short- hand for sets of correspondences or whether it is a real language which we may perhaps describe in the same manner, though with less certainty, than any living language. The formulaist language is abstract and from the point of historical linguistics (see bellow) not a language at all and provides no interesting explanation of how the languages came to be different beyond providing a means of encoding and decoding...
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