Prūsų kalbos veiksmažodžių struktūros ypatumai

• Main Author: Audronė Kaukienė
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Vilnius University 2011-11-01
• Series: Baltistica
• Subjects: prūsų kalba; veiksmažodis
• Online Access: http://www.baltistica.lt/index.php/baltistica/article/view/512

<p><strong>PECULIARITIES OF VERB STRUCTURE IN OLD PRUSSIAN</strong></p><p><em>Summary</em></p><p>Two types of verbs with a suffix variation have been reconstructed on the basis of Old Prussian catechisms.</p><p>Verbs of type 1 have the suffix <em>-ī- </em>in the Infinitive and its derivatives (the vowel <em>ī </em>in the dialects of the catechisms is slightly diphthongized, pronounced as <em>^eī</em><em> </em>and recorded as <em>ī</em><em>, </em><em>ij, ei, i), </em>and the suffixes <em>-ē- </em>and <em>-ā- </em>in the Present and Past tenses, e.g. <em>billīt, billītwei </em> ‘to speak’, <em>billīton </em>‘is said’, <em>bille </em>‘I speak, you speak, he speaks’, <em>billē </em><em>/ </em><em>billā, </em><em>billa </em>‘speaks’, <em>billēmai ‘</em>we speak’, <em>billai </em>‘I spoke’, <em>billa, </em><em>byla, </em><em>bela, </em><em>billāts, </em><em>belats, bilats, bylaczt / </em><em>billē </em>‘he spoke’.</p><p>Verbs of this type can correspond to verb forms with different structures in East Baltic languages or have no correspondences at all. In the linguistic literature the suffix <em>-ī- </em>of the Infinitive is usually presented as being derived from <em>*-ē- </em>on the basis of the theoretically reconstructed thematic stems of the Present and Past tenses. Yet the existing materials do not support this kind of reconstruction,</p><p>Verbs of type 2 have the suffix <em>*-ē- </em>in the Infinitive and its derivatives (the vowel <em>ē </em>in the dialects of the catechisms became narrower and was pronounced almost as <em>ī</em>), and the suffix <em>-ī̆- </em>at the end of the Present tense stem (the Past tense forms have not been recorded); e.g. <em>turīt, </em><em>turrit, turrītwei, turrettwey, turryetwei </em><em>(*tur-ē-) </em>‘to have’, <em>turri </em>‘I have’, <em>tur, </em><em>turri, turei </em>‘you have’, <em>turri, turei, turret,</em><em>ture </em>‘he has, they have’, <em>turrimai </em>‘we have’, <em>turriti </em>‘you have’. In East Baltic languages their equivalents are <em>i</em>-stem verbs with the suffix <em>-ē- </em>in the Infinitive.</p><p>Type 1 is very copious and productive, while type 2 ought to be considered a relic. Yet the domi­nance of type 1 should be accounted for not by phonological, but rather by morphological reasons, as in live Old Prussian <em>*ē </em><em>&gt; </em><em>ī </em>and <em>*i </em><em>&gt; </em><em>^e</em><em>ī</em><em> </em>could not have merged.</p>