http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/ucla_pies/rss Recent eScholarship items from Program in Indo-European Studies Sun, 28 Jun 2026 14:40:44 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9375f17g Contents https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9375f17g Thu, 5 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/39t1r1c5 <p>This paper explores the prosody of the Rigvedic clause against the backdrop of two phenomena: (1) the treatment of vowel-vowel junctures at the word boundary (in particular whether such sequences show hiatus or contraction) and (2) the caesura in trimeter (11- and 12-syllable) lines. The behavior, with respect to these phenomena, of a variety of functional elements in the language of the Rigveda is investigated, leading to the conclusion that (1) and (2) provide critical evidence for the natural language prosody of that language. A sharp contrast is drawn with approaches that assume that the relevant processes reflect “poetic license” or arise <em>metri causa</em>.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/39t1r1c5 Thu, 5 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hale, Mark https://escholarship.org/uc/item/85h408dk Preface https://escholarship.org/uc/item/85h408dk Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Goldstein, David M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1276-7623 Gunkel, Dieter https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0706-6590 Jamison, Stephanie W. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9176-4783 Yates, Anthony D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3856-857X https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9zj3j24h <p>Ancient Greek accentuation has been notoriously difficult to categorize comprehensively. We set out a new model which we believe is the first fully comprehensive account that formally treats nominal accentuation as approximations of recessive accentuation. This is done using Direct OT, according to which morphemes are represented by the constraints they violate.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9zj3j24h Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Golston, Chris https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0513-5946 Paulsen, Christian https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7n86n7vd <p>The most fundamental use of phylogenetic methods is to infer a cladistic tree structure. Besides the use of different methods for the phylogenetic inference (parsimony, likelihood), contemporary phylogenetic research also discusses on which linguistic features an inference should be based. What happens if we substitute (or complement) the basic vocabulary data with other data types, such as sound changes or morphosyntactic features? By a comparative phylogenetic reconstruction model, i.e., a reconstruction of the transition rates and probability of presence at the root and hidden nodes of features in a phylogenetic tree, we may reconstruct the probability of the presence of different features back to a proto-language, and using a world tree even further back, to Early language. However, how reliable is this reconstruction? How does this reconstruction relate to other types of reconstruction, using, e.g., the comparative method or diachronic typology? Alternatively, is there... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7n86n7vd Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Carling, Gerd https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9190-9724 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/74w4n1t0 <p>This paper challenges the traditional etymology of Greek μοιχός as a τομός-type noun derived from PIE *<em>h₃mei̯g̑ʰ</em>- ‘to piss’ and proposes to trace back the word to PIE *<em>mei̯k̑</em>- ‘to mix’. I re-evaluate the Latin and Sanskrit evidence cited in favor of a derivation for μοιχός from *<em>h₃mei̯g̑ʰ</em>- and find it inconclusive for the salient details of the semantic development proposed in the earlier literature. Moreover, the lateness of both the Sanskrit and Latin evidence points towards parallel innovations of the meaning ‘to ejaculate’ from ‘to piss’. Instead, the insight that reflexes of *<em>mei̯k̑</em>- frequently denote extramarital intercourse across Indo-European languages and especially Greek, notably in Homeric uses of μίσγω and ἐμίγην in adulterous contexts, provides semantic support for deriving μοιχός from PIE *<em>mei̯k̑</em>-. I formalize the derivation through a <em>rátha</em>-type derivational chain (*<em>mei̯k̑</em>- → *<em>moi̯k̑-éh₂</em>&nbsp;→... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/74w4n1t0 Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Rehan, Muhammad https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7397v2mk <p>In Ancient Greek, verbal first compound members in -εσι- derive regularly from verbs with aorists in -εσ- (e.g., ἐτέλεσα ⇒ τελεσι-). From this context, the sequence -εσι- is reanalyzed as a linking element and extended to verbs without an aorist in -εσ- (e.g., πηγεσι- vs. aor. ἔπηξα). Previous analyses of this analogical extension have proved empirically inadequate. I reconstruct a process, active in Homeric Greek and parallel to the deverbative formation of verbal second members in -ής (Meissner 2006:186–96), which produces verbal first members in -εσι- by analogy with the compositional forms of <em>s</em>-stems (-τειχής : τειχεσι- :: -τελής : τελεσι-). The process starts with denominative verbs from neuter <em>s</em>-stems, which also produce second members in -ής. As these are reanalyzed as deverbative, a verbal first member in -εσι- is also created and specialized for transitive meanings. The new derivational rule spreads according to strictly defined patterns of proportional... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7397v2mk Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Migliaretti, Elisa https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1tx5v8p8 <p>In this paper I provide a comprehensive analysis of the 51 instances I have found of the future passive imperative in Latin, offering new suggestions about the chronology of the creation of the three different 2nd/3rd singular endings, -<em>tō</em>, -<em>minō</em>, and -<em>tor</em>, and their usage. The data suggest that -<em>minō</em> is the most archaic ending attested for the 2nd/3rd&nbsp;sg. future passive imperative. I argue that the preserved instances of passive use of the ending -<em>tō</em> represent a more recent development rather than deriving directly from the situation reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European. In Latin, this use seems instead to be a transfer of the active ending onto deponents via common verbs. Further, the lack of transparency of the ending -<em>minō</em> has several consequences for this verbal category in Latin, such as the creation of a more clearly marked passive ending -<em>tor</em>. I consider also whether the situation in Latin reflects... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1tx5v8p8 Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hilmarsdóttir, Sólveig https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3823-0049 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/109996jb <p>The establishment of the Hittite-speaking court in Hattusa in the 17th century BCE must have led to close contact of speakers of Hattian, Luwian, and newly introduced Hittite in and around Hattusa, if not beyond. In such a situation we would expect influence from Hattian on<br>Hittite beyond borrowed lexemes. However, there is no evidence of Hattian interference with the grammar of Hittite that can be extracted from the documents of the court, our main source of Hittite. Nonetheless, a rare document, the oracle inquiry KBo 18.151, does exhibit such influence from Hattian. As has generally been accepted, this document, dated to Hattusili I’s reign, contains orthographic anomalies pointing to Hattian phonetic interference reflecting the speech of a native speaker of Hattian, perhaps representing the general populace. But there is more interference. The current study reveals how the incorrect use of Hittite case endings is best explained as resulting from pattern imposition of... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/109996jb Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Goedegebuure, Petra https://escholarship.org/uc/item/06b364dc <p>This paper clarifies the morphological development of Homeric τερμιόεις ‘fringed, hemmed, edged’ and re-examines its relationship with<br>Mycenaean <em>te-mi-dwe</em> ‘wedged’. Earlier accounts, notably Meier (1975:75), interpret τερμιόεις as preserving an archaic <em>i</em>-stem base, with the once-attested Linear B form <em>ṭẹ-mi-we-te</em> (neuter nominative dual) taken as direct evidence for such a formation in Mycenaean. Through a reassessment of the Linear B dossier, I argue that this form is more plausibly explained as a scribal error for <em>te-mi-de-we-te</em>, consistent with the <em>id</em>-stem base attested elsewhere in the corpus. I further show that only the <em>id</em>-stem variant yields metrically acceptable forms in hexametric poetry, whereas a Proto-Greek <em>i</em>-stem-based *<em>termi-went</em>- would not scan without the addition of linking -<em>o</em>-, a feature absent in Mycenaean and demonstrably secondary in Homeric *-<em>went</em>-adjectives. I... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/06b364dc Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Sabattini, Paolo https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9144-3723 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6674v410 Contents https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6674v410 Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4d731568 List of Contributors https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4d731568 Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/26q1174j <p>In this paper, I propose a formal analysis of the eleven- and twelve-syllable lines of Vedic, with a glance at Greek lyric meter and a look at Greco-Aryan. Based on the higher incidence of word-end, as well as surface hiatus patterns and clitic placement, in certain positions of verse-final pādas, the Vedic eleven- and twelve-syllable lines can be described as an octosyllable and enneasyllable, respectively, expanded by a bacchiac or amphibrach; these subdivide into [2|3][3|3] and [2|3][3|4]. These parses are consistent with the ternary podic analysis of native metrical tradition (Piṅgala). The positions especially of medial feet permit substitutions of heavy syllables for light and vice versa, to such an extent that mismatched weights became almost de rigueur. The eight-, eleven-, and twelve-syllable lines can thus be represented by related tree structures. Greek furnishes comparable eleven- and twelve-syllable lines (glyconics and hipponacteans with internal “dactylic”... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/26q1174j Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Mercado, Angelo O https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9488-0161