COMMENTS ABOUT THE INDO-EUROPEAN 'CONTRASTIVE' SUFFIX *-(t)er(o)-

• Authors: Shields K. , Jr.
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

It is argued in this brief paper that the so-called Indo-European 'contrastive' suffix *-(t)er(o)- of adjectives and adverbs derives ultimately from the contamination and subsequent grammaticalization of deictic particles in *(e/o)t and *(e/o)r. The original function of this suffix was, therefore, not contrastive, but rather locational, in nature. It is also proposed here that although the comparative suffix *-tero- of Greek and Sanskrit can be traced etymologically to the contamination of the same deictics, it is the result of a very different evolutionary process.

Keywords

EN

INDO-EUROPEAN; MORPHOLOGY

Discipline

• PHILOLOGY_&_LINGUISTICS: PHILOLOGY & LINGUISTICS

• Publisher: Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk
• Journal: Lingua Posnaniensis
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 49
• Pages: 151-155
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Shields K.

author

Jr.

• K. Shields, Jr., English Departament, Millersville University, Millersville, Pensylvania 17551-0302, USA

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

08PLAAAA04939391