Absolute Constructions in Early Indo-European

271 Pages·2013·1.481 MB·English

by  Antonia Ruppel

AbsoluteConstructionsinEarlyIndo-European
In the past, discussions about absolute constructions (ACs) have been limited
byanimpreciseunderstandingofwhatACsare.Byexaminingthenatureand
functionofACsandrelatedconstructionsinGreek,LatinandSanskrit,thisnew
study arrives at a clear and simple definition of ACs. Focusing on the earliest
attestedmaterialineachlanguage,ithighlightshowACusagediffersbetween
languagesandoffersexplanationsforthesedifferences.Identifyingthecommon
core shared by all ACs, it suggests a starting point and way by which they
developedintoGreek,LatinandSanskrit.Furtherhistoricalstudyrevealshow
ACs have been conceived of by grammarians, philologists and even Christian
missionariesoverthelasttwothousandyearsandhowenduringmisconceptions
still affect our discussion of them today. All Sanskrit material is annotated in
detail, making it accessible for classicists in particular and allowing a better
understandingofACsinGreekandLatin.
antonia ruppel is the Townsend Senior Lecturer in the Greek, Latin and
SanskritLanguagesatCornellUniversity.
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cambridge classical studies
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d. n. sedley,g. c. horrocks, s. p. oakley,
w. m. beard
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ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS IN EARLY
INDO-EUROPEAN
ANTONIA RUPPEL
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Firstpublished2013
PrintedandBoundinGreatBritainbytheMPGBooksGroup
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Ruppel,Antonia.
AbsoluteconstructionsinearlyIndo-European/AntoniaRuppel.
pages; cm.–(Cambridgeclassicalstudies)
isbn978-0-521-76762-0(hardback)
1.Indo-Europeanlanguages–Absoluteconstructions.
2.Grammar,Comparativeandgeneral–Absoluteconstructions.
I.Title. II.Series:Cambridgeclassicalstudies.
p671.r86 2013
415–dc23 2012019059
isbn978-0-521-76762-0Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements pageviii
Listofabbreviations x
Noteontranslations xiv
1 TheACsofar 1
1.1 Whydoweneedanotherstudyofabsoluteconstructions? 1
1.2 PriorresearchonACs 4
1.2.a Thehistoryoftheterm‘absolute’ 4
1.2.b ThedefinitionofACs 7
1.2.b.i Nodefinition 7
1.2.b.ii Descriptioninsteadofdefinition 8
1.2.b.iii Sentenceappositions 11
1.2.b.iv Unusualcaseusage 12
1.2.b.v Dominantparticiples 13
1.2.b.vi Summary 14
1.2.c HowdidACsarise? 15
1.2.c.i Noviewexpressed 16
1.2.c.ii Grammaticalvs.semanticcaseusage 17
1.2.c.iii OVtoVO:Lehmann’sexplanation 22
1.2.c.iv Transformation 23
1.2.c.v Apromisingapproach 25
1.2.d LinksbetweenACsandotherconstructions 27
1.2.e Summary 28
1.3 Thescopeofthisstudy 28
1.4 Summaryoffindings 30
2 EarlyGreek 33
2.1 Introduction 33
2.2 TheGenitiveAbsoluteinHomer:anoverview 36
2.2.a General 36
2.2.b Ambiguities 38
2.2.c Thenatureoftheabsoluteparticiple 41
2.2.d Semantics 42
2.3 Homericquestions 44
2.3.a ‘Lateness’:apreamble 45
v
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contents
2.3.b Furthercomponents:signsofdevelopment? 46
2.3.c Transitivity 50
2.3.d Genitiveparticiplesinsteadofanexpected
conjunctparticiple 57
2.3.e Summary 64
2.4 Futureresearch?TheHomericGAincomparisonwithother
meansofgrammaticalsubordination 65
2.5 TheGAinHesiod 68
2.6 TheGAintheseventhandsixthcenturiesbc 73
2.7 Absoluteparticiplesandrelatedphenomena 76
2.8 Conclusions 79
3 EarlyLatin 82
3.1 Introduction 82
3.2 TheLatinAblativeAbsolute:anoverview 83
3.2.a Theformalmake-upoftheAA 83
3.2.b TheAAinEarlyLatin:formalmake-upand
semantictypes 86
3.2.c ClassicalLatin 88
3.3 DelineatingtheAAsemantically:absoluteandotherablatives 89
3.4 DelineatingtheAAsyntactically:obligatoryanddominant
nominalqualifiersacrossLatin 97
3.4.a Theaburbeconditaconstruction(AUC) 97
3.4.b Thegerundive 102
3.4.c Summary 108
3.5 ‘Nominal’ACsinLatin 108
3.5.a AdjectivalAAs 109
3.5.b Comparativematters 115
3.5.c SubstantivalAAs 117
3.5.d *sens 121
3.6 ACsinItalic 122
3.7 Conclusions 123
4 TheSanskritlocativeabsoluteanditssyntactic
surroundings 127
4.1 Introduction 127
4.2 Sanskritliterature:abriefsketch 128
4.3 SomeelementsofSanskritgrammar 130
4.3.a Nominalexpressionsandcasesyntax 130
4.3.b TheSanskritlocativeabsolute 137
4.4 SupposedlyabsolutelocativesintheRigveda 139
4.4.a Time 139
4.4.b Time,spaceandprobablyboth 143
vi
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contents
4.4.c Space 145
4.4.d Excursus:aparticularlytrickycase 148
4.5 ActualRigvedicLAs:expressionsofnaturaltime 153
4.6 LAsincontext 156
4.7 TheSanskritperspective 159
4.8 TheoriginsoftheWesternperspective 165
4.9 Conclusions 168
5 Proto-Indo-EuropeanrootsofACs 172
5.1 Introduction 172
5.2 Recapitulation:whatmakesACsabsolute? 173
5.2.a Whatdoesnotmakethemabsolute 173
5.2.b Whatdoesmakethemabsolute:theobligatoryqualifier 176
5.3 Obligatoryandapparentlyobligatoryqualifiers:a
cross-linguisticlook 176
5.3.a TheAUC 177
5.3.b Variouscaseusages 185
5.3.c Conclusions 190
5.4 TheelementsoftheAC 192
5.4.a Participles 192
5.4.b Case 200
5.5 Proto-Indo-European 206
5.5.a ACsinPIE 207
5.5.b AUCsand‘nominal’ACs 214
5.6 FromPIEintothedaughterlanguages 216
5.6.a Sanskrit 216
5.6.b Latin 217
5.6.c Greek 219
5.7 Absoluteornot:anexcursus 222
5.8 Conclusions 224
Appendix1 LiteratureonACs 230
Appendix2 ACs,potentialACsandconstructionssimilar
toACs 233
Bibliography 236
Indexofcitedpassages 251
Generalindex 254
vii
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Theexistenceofthisbook,whichisbasedonthethesisforwhich
I was awarded a PhD by the University of Cambridge in 2008,
wasmadepossiblebythecopioussupportIreceivedfromfriends,
teachers,colleaguesandfundingbodies.
For my PhD, I received a fees-only grant from what was then
theAHRB;ascholarshipfromtheGatesCambridgeTrustkeptme
comfortably fed, clothed and housed. I am especially grateful to
the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, which kept me in their
ideelle Fo¨rderung. Throughout my graduate studies, Newnham
College provided a physical and intellectual home, the basis of
numerous friendships, and gardens to lose myself in whenever
the uncertainties of a multi-year project that might never lead
to anything were becoming too much. (The cats roaming those
gardens also provided great emotional support; I hope they are
stillwell.)
SincerethanksgotoTorstenMeißner,notjustforbeingatruly
inspiring teacher, but also for saying two things that have greatly
influencedmyacademiccareer:‘Sanskritisalwaysuseful’(1998;
had I not started learning Sanskrit when I did, I would not have
been able to take up my current job teaching, among other lan-
guages, Sanskrit) and ‘Then why don’t you write your PhD on
absolute constructions?’ (2001, the effects of which need no fur-
ther explanation). I am enormously indebted to James Clackson,
the Supervisor Better Than Which None Can Be Imagined, who
saw my thesis through to its completion even after I had moved
to the US. Draft chapters e-mailed to Cambridge in the evening
wereoftenreturnedwithdetailedcommentsbythefollowingday;
his suggested timeline for completion, which ends with the line
‘August–havecompletedthesis,openchampagne’stillhangson
the wall above my desk. Geoffrey Horrocks oversaw the early
stages of my thesis work, was always available for questions and
viii
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