Fredrik Otto Lindeman Oslo CDU 801.52: 809.198.7-54 INDO-EUROPEAN LARYNGEALS'AND HITTITE HINIK-, HEU-: SOME CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS Referring to 'lex Eichner'1 certain scholars2 teach that the he- of Hittite heu-'rain' (heu-/he-aw-)3 goes back ultimately to the lengthened e-grade (*H-py-) of a root 1 For Eichners Gesetz see Mayrhofer, Indogermanische Grammatik Band I, 1986, pp. 132ff., 141f., and cf. the critical discussion by Lindeman, Introduction to the 'Laryngeal Theory', 1988, p. 56ff., HS. 102, 1989, p. 274. For the stem *ink in Old Irish ro-iccu 'I reach', con-icimm, -cumcu 'I can'and similar forms, mistakenly invoked as a piece of evidence for 'lex Eichner', see Thurneysen, Grammar of Old Irish p. 130, and cf. Lindeman, Introduction, p. 85. Theoretically, cumacc, verbal noun of con-ic 'can', may be the regular phonetic outcome in Old Irish of Celtic *kom-anko- (with *ank- representing IE. zero-grade *nk'-, cf. Mid. Welsh anc in ranc bod 'to satisfy' and in cyfranc 'encounter' = Olr. comracc 'id.'): a phonetic development of a preform *kom-anko- into Old Irish *cumecc, cumacc is quite straightforward, cf. Celtic *ko(m)-men- > Olr. cumen, cuman 'remembered'. It should be stressed in this connection that the preverb com- occurs with a generalized u in cuimne 'remembrance', cuimnech 'mindful'. For the preverb com-, cum- see Lewis and Pedersen, Concise Comparative Celtic Grammar p. 104. I see little point in discussing recent ad hoc fabrications allegedly involving a preserved IE. lengthened *e-grade in the vicinity of or *H3- It is perhaps worth noticing, however, that the *as- attested by Skt. äsa- 'ash', OLat. Ssa 'fire-altar', Oscan (loc. sing.) aasai 'in ara', if from a lengthened grade *[H2äs-] contrasting with normal grade *[Hzas-] seen in Toch. AB äs- 'dry up' (pres. iv asatär, B osotär), would be a particularly convincing piece of evidence against 'lex Eichner': if, prior to the rise of the lengthened grade in Indo-European, normal grade */H2es-/ was realized phonetically as *[Ü2as-], it follows that the lengthened grade of *[Ü2as-] must have been *[H2äs-], whence non-Anatolian *Ss~. See my remarks in Hethitisch und Indogermanisch., 1979, p. 153, note 6. For Hitt. hassa- 'fire-place', see Puhvel, HED. 3, p. 224. 2 See H. Eichner, Gedenkschriftfür H. Kronasser, 1982, p. 18; Ch. Zinko, 'Hethitisch heu- "Regen"', Akten der 13. Österreichischen Linguistentagung, 1988, pp. 319-38, particularly p.329. Eichner, ibid. p. 18, note 12, positing IE. *(s)h2i-ne-k- as the source of Hitt. hinik- and Vedic sincäti, writes: "Diese Analyse (nicht *sh2i-n-ek-) folgt aus dem Wurzelansatz *sH2eik/*sh2aik (ai. Perf. siseca, nicht: *sisyaca),..." Eichner's reasoning here is irrelevant, however: Saussure assumed that the original formation of the nasal infix presents involved a morpheme of regular ablauting type *-ne-/-n- and to this day, there is no linguistic evidence forcing us to consider his analysis unjustified. Cf. also e.g. Cowgill, Language 39, p. 252, Borgström, NTS. 15, p. 157, R. Antilla, Proto-Indo-European Schwebeablaut, 1969, p. 39f. Cowgill, Kratylos 29, 1984[85], p. 8, taking heu- to come from pre-Hitt. *he-yu-, *he-yaw-, or *hey-u-, *hey-aw-, offers no comment on the origin of his pre- Hitt. root *he(-y)-. See also my Introduction to the 'Laryngeal Theory', 1988, p. 110. 3 For the inflection of this word in Hittite see E. Neu, Essays in historical linguistics in memory of J-A. Kerns, 1981, pp. 203-12, Kratylos 25,1980[81], p. 89. For the ablaut (heu-/heaw-) see now E. Neu, 'Zur Stammabstufung bei i- und K-stämmigen Substantiven des Hethitischen', Sprachwissenschaftliche Forschungen Festschrift für Johann Knobloch, Innsbruck 1985, p. 260: "Es fallt schwer anzunehmen, dass die schon im Althethitischen für heu- bezeugte Stammabstufung bereits in so früher Zeit in Anlehnung an «-stämmige Adjektive erfolg sein soll." For Puhvel's analysis (in HED, p. 303) see below. According to 113 *H2gy~, the zero-grade of which is attested by the Hittite nasal infix verb stem hinik-'to rain' < *H2inek- (cf. heus hinikta, Laroche, RHA. 23,1965, p. 68f.); a variant form of the stem *H2inek- is *sH2in(e)k- (with ^-mobile) allegedly underlying Vedic sincati 'pour, sprinkle', Avest. hincaiti 'id.'. Hence, the basic verbal theme from which these nasal infix presents are all ultimately derived, must be reconstructed as IE. *(s)H2ey- However, the assumption that Hitt. hinik- and Vedic sincati reflect an orig. IE. nasal infix present of the shape *(s)H2ine-k- can be shown to be unfounded. As is well known4, Vedic sincati has a cognate in Proto-Germanic *sejhw-a-'filter', seen in OE. seon, pret. sah, ptc. siwen, OHG. sihan, pret. seh, ptc. siwan, etc. Since Proto-Gmc. *sejhw- cannot be the regular phonetic reflex of a full-grade *saykw- (< *sH2eykw- with an a-colouring 'laryngeal'), the only course5 open to those who want to uphold the assumption of an etymological connection of hinik- < *H2i-ne-k- with Vedic sincati would be to resort to 'lex Eichner' and account for the shape of Gmc. *sejhw-a- by assuming an IE. lengthened grade *sH2eykw-6 (with *e preserved in the vicinity of *H2) > non-Anatolian IE. *seykw-, whence (with regular shortening of preconsonantal *ey to *ej according to Osthoff's Law), Proto-Gmc. *sejhw-a-. Obviously, this reasoning being entirely circular can have no probative force whatever: a strictly ad hoc postulated lengthened grade *H2ey- in the preform of Hitt. heu- 'rain' (< IE. *H2eyu-) forms the basis for the reconstruction of an EE. stem form *sH2ey-kw- (> Proto-Gmc. *sejhw-), the *e of which has no other linguistic justifications than precisely the strictly ad hoc postulated lengthened grade in the preform of Hitt. heu-. Non liquet. Puhvel, HED. vol. 3, 1991, p. 315f., explicitly rejecting the proposed etymological connection of heu- with hinik-, takes the latter verb form and vedic sincati to reflect an orig. nasal infix present *(s)H1in(e)k- (with s-mobile) to abase *(s)HjeyMw>-, seen in Proto-Gmc. *sejhw-a- 'filter'. However, the proposed reconstruction of a basic stem of the shape *(s)Hjeyldw>- as the source of Hitt. hinik-, Vedic sincati and Proto-Gmc. *sejhw-a-, although phonologically possible, remains questionable as it rests on two unverifiable ad hoc assumptions, i.e. 1) that the 5- of Vedic sincati is in fact an s-mobile, and 2) that the h- of hinik- does reflect a voiced ¿-colouring 'laryngeal'7 rather than *H2 or *H3: we do not dispose of any linguistic material that could J. Catsanicos, BSL. LXXIX, 1984, 2, p. 147, heu-, heaw- is characterized by a mobile accent. 4 Cf. Seebold, Vergl. und etym. Wb. der germ, starken Verben, 1970, p. 390. 5 Hoenigswald's assumptions ('Laryngeals and s movable', Language 28, p. 172f.), that prevocalic 'laryngeals' were lost in the Indo-Hittite period before the difference of e and a had become distinctive, being unfounded, gives no support to the idea that a non-Anatolian IE. stem form *seykw- (> Proto-Gmc. *sejhw-) may reflect orig. *s[H2]ey£v. For Hoenigswald's hypothesis see Introduction to the 'Laryngeal Theory', p. 49. 6 Or, more precisely, *scyk a) of the IE. 'laryngeals' in Anatolian, see Introduction, p. 106 (with further references), and cf. H. Craig Melchert, Sprache 33, 1987, p. 19f., note 3, who argues that internal cases like HLuw. tuwatri-, Lyc. kbatra- 'daughter' < *dhugH2tr-"may show anaptyxis rather than vocalization." Not surprisingly, 'laryngeal' speculations, however imaginative, thus offer little help to the linguist who sets out to establish the original formation and prehistory of the noun heu-, heaw-. The obvious reason for this is to be found in our insufficient knowledge of Hittite 'laryngeal' reflexes and of Hittite phonology on the whole. Also, such 'laryngeal' speculations do not offer any clear answer to the question whether 7 In Puhvel's system, the symbol *Hi denotes a voiced e-colouring 'laryngeal', see H ED. vol. 1 and 2, p. x with further references. 8 Since initial IE. *s- before a stressed syllable normally yields Alb. gj-, the proposed etymological connection of shi with non-Anatolian IE. *su- remains uncertain. 9 See H ED. 3, p. 303. Puhvel posits an orig. nom. sg. *hewus for Hittite, which, however, would probably have been written *hemus, cf. acc. plur. heamus (with -wu- written -mu- as in idalamus, acc. pi. of idalu-), and see E. Neu's discussion in StBoT. 18, p. 121f. 10 Theoretically, *hew- in Puhvel's stem *hew(a)- might come from *H2,3eyw~. 115 heu-, heaw- is to be etymologically connected with the Hittite verb hinik-, the preform of which likewise remains uncertain. Povzetek INDOEVROPSKI 'LARINGALI' IN HETTTSKO HINK-, HEU-: NEKAJ OPAZK Ko natančno pretehta predpostavke nekaterih sodobnih fonoloških podmen, pride pisec do sklepa, da indoevropska etimologija hetitskega heu-/heaw- 'dež' nima opore v iaringalni' teoriji ali v anatolskem in nea-natolskem jezikovnem gradivu. Povezava te besede z glagolom hinik- 'deževati' se s formalnimi sredstvi ne da dokazati. 116