The Prehistory of the Proto-Slavic Abstract Suffix *- ostь and its Baltic Congeners
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21420069 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marek Majer (0000-0002-0885-5789, University of Lodz, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 203-226 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-03 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Scando-Slavica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0080-6765 • E-ISSN: 1600-082X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00806765.2021.1994001 |
| OpenAlex | W4205492737 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
The study deals with the origin of the Proto-Slavic adjective abstract suffix *-ostь. Firstly, the existing proposals are systematized and evaluated. It is concluded that the most promising explanation is the one according to which the suffix *-ostь was metanalyzed from regular abstract nouns in *-ь (*zelenь -i ‘the color green’ ← *zelenъ ‘green’) built to an old class of adjectives in *-ostъ < *-osto-, not directly preserved but paralleled in other Indo-European languages (Latin angustus ‘narrow’). The article proceeds to provide a number of observations corroborating and extending this theory. Evidence for the ‘missing link’, i.e. the class of adjectives in *-ostъ, is sought in Old Polish personal names of the type Miłost and in the inferred basis of derivatives parallel to *-ostь, such as the noun *starosta. Furthermore, the Baltic evidence is engaged seriously: in line with recent research, Lithuanian -astis must be treated as cognate – and not borrowing – of Slavic *-ostь, which impacts the diachronic explanation. It is argued that formations such as Lithuanian abstracts in -asta(s) may reflect traces of a class of adjectives in *-asta- < *-osto- as well. The abstract in *-asti- can be considered as yet another meaningful innovation of Proto-Balto-Slavic
Adjective · Class (philosophy) · Cognate · Epistemology · Linguistics · Lithuanian · Noun · Slavic languages · Suffix · Word formation · History · Language and Culture · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
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