|
|
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...
|
|
|
Development of strong adjectives in Early Middle English
Martin, Robert ; Tichý, Ondřej (advisor) ; Čermák, Jan (referee)
This bachelor's thesis is concerned with the systemic change affecting the endings of adjectives as corresponding to the Old English strong and weak adjectival forms, which took places largely during the first half of the Middle English period. The analysis contained therein was executed using the PPCME2, from which adjectives ending in two types of consonant clusters were selected based on their possible lack of participation in the emerging orographic system that, to this day, uses the final -e diacritically to indicate qualities of the root vowel without it's having the value of the vowel wherein the opposition between the two types of adjectives lay. This analysis took into consideration other factors, phonological and orthographical, but also casal, as well as presence of various determiners. The analysis underway, a surprising tendency was observed in the examined material: to extend the strong/weak opposition to adjectives in the dative case, and that during the first quarter of the period. Analysis of phonological factors confirmed that this phenomenon must have been morphological in nature. Strong as this tendency may seem, it didn't last, and materials for the later periods reflect the disappearance of the dative endings altogether. For the direct case, the analysis confirmed the...
|
guest ::
RSS feed.