Indo-European Programme

Slot 1: Introduction to Old Irish; Slot 2: Historical Phonology of Irish; Slot 3: Luwian; Slot 4 (beginners): Introduction to PIE phonology and morphology; Slot 4 (advanced): Historical Grammar of Tocharian

Slot 1: Introduction to Old Irish
Jürgen Uhlich (Dublin)

Course description
This course will provide a comprehensive introduction to the Old Irish language of the so-called Classical period (8th and 9th centuries AD). The main focus will be on the synchronic description of the language, but this will be supplemented throughout by considerations of its Proto-Celtic and Indo-European background. As soon and as far as possible, students will be exposed to original Old Irish textual passages.

Requirements
No previous knowledge of Old Irish is required. Familiarity with Latin and/or other Celtic languages would be an optional bonus.

Course materials
The main text-book that students should bring along to the course is David Stifter, Sengoídelc. Old Irish for beginners. Syracuse (NY): Syracuse University Press, 2006. In addition, some photocopied handouts will be supplied. 
Further handbooks that are highly recommended are J. Strachan, Old-Irish paradigms and glosses. Fourth edition, revised by O. Bergin. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1949; R. Thurneysen, A grammar of Old Irish. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1949. Also useful is A. Green, Old Irish verbs and vocabulary. Somerville (MA): Cascadilla Press, 1995. The most, or indeed only, comprehensive dictionary of Old and Middle Irish can now be consulted on-line. 
Slot 2: Historical Phonology of Irish: from Celtic to Old Irish
Jürgen Uhlich (Dublin) 

Course description 

This course will survey the main phonological developments between Goidelic to Classical Old Irish, i.e. from about the 2nd to the 9th centuries AD. As far as possible, the analysis will be based on attested sources. To this end, the course will begin with an introduction to the Early Irish Ogam inscriptions and conclude with an account of the Latin loanwords as reflected in Old Irish.

General outline:
  • The Celtic languages and the position of Irish within that family
  • The Ogam alphabet and inscriptions: general introduction and selected specific features
  • The main phonological changes from Celtic/Goidelic to Old Irish:
    • lenition
    • vowel affection 1: raising and lowering
    • vowel affection 2: u-affection
    • palatalisation of consonants
    • apocope
    • syncope
    • The Latin loanwords in Early Irish: phonology and chronology

Requirements
Students should be familiar with the principles of descriptive phonology and phonological reconstruction, as well as the orthographical system of Old Irish.

Course materials
D. McManus, A guide to Ogam. Maynooth: An Sagart, 1991.
D. McManus, "Ogam: Archaizing, orthography and the authenticity of the manuscript key to the alphabet", Ériu 37 (1986) 1-31.
Kim McCone, Towards a relative chronology of ancient and medieval Celtic sound change. Maynooth: The Department of Old Irish, St. Patrick's College, 1996, especially chapters IV (105-25) and V (127-143).
D. McManus, "A chronology of the Latin loan-words in Early Irish", Ériu 34 (1983) 21-71; "On final syllables in the Latin loan-words in Early Irish", Ériu 35 (1984) 137-62. 
Slot 3: Hieroglyphic Luwian
Alwin Kloekhorst (Leiden)

Course Description

Hieroglyphic Luwian is an Anatolian language that is written in its own hieroglyphic script and is attested, mostly in rock inscriptions, from ca 1300-700 BC. Not only historically the HLuwian texts are of tremendous importance (since they are practically our only source of information on the so-called Dark Ages that followed the sudden decline of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC), but also linguistically HLuwian has become more and more important (it nowadays is, after Hittite, the best known Anatolian language).

In this course the following subjects will be treated:
  • the hieroglyphic script and its decipherment
  • the phonetic interpretation of the script
  • grammar (phonology and morphology)
  • linguistic history of HLuw.
  • the usage of HLuw. for reconstructing Proto-Anatolian and Proto-Indo-European
  • reading texts

Requirements
Pre-existing knowledge of Hittite and the basic principles of reconstructing Indo-European is helpful but not obligatory.
Slot 4 (beginners): Introduction to PIE phonology and morphology
Alexander Lubotsky (Leiden) 
 
The aim of this course is to familiarize the student with the main phonological and morphological issues in the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European. We will review the most important elements of the linguistic system from which the different Indo-European languages have developed. The subject matter will be illustrated by means of small exercises in reconstruction. At the end of the course, the student should be able to start investigating problems of IE etymology.

General lay-out
I: Survey of main IE languages, their orthography and linguistic systems
II: Phonemes of PIE, morpheme structure, phonotactics
III: PIE stops
IV: PIE sibilant and resonants, laryngeals (I)
V: PIE vowels and diphthongs, laryngeals (II)

VI: PIE noun inflexion
VII: noun suffixes, internal derivation
VIII: PIE verbal system: conjugation
IX: PIE verbal system: stem formation
X: Exercises in PIE etymology  

Level
Familiarity with languages with a case system; general knowledge of the principles of historical linguistics. All examples from non-Latin alphabets will be given in a Latin transcription.
Slot 4 (advanced): Historical Grammar of Tocharian
Michaël Peyrot (Leiden)

Course description
This introductory course focuses on the historical grammar of Tocharian. Although it is not feasible to treat the synchronic grammars of both languages (A and B) in full, some basic points are introduced. Further, small text samples are cited to give an impression of Tocharian syntax, stylistics and literature. The main, historical part of the course addresses important topics in the reconstruction of Proto-Tocharian on the basis of the comparison between Tocharian A and B, as well as the principal developments leading from the Indo-European protolanguage to Proto-Tocharian.
 
Course outline
• Tocharian: internal and external relationships
• phonology: vowels
• phonology: vowels and resonants
• phonology: stops
• nominal morphology
• pronouns
• verb: general lay-out
• verb: endings
• verb: present
• verb: preterite and subjunctive  

Requirements
Students are supposed to have a basic knowledge of Indo-European reconstruction and the methods of historical linguistics. Background knowledge of or competence in Tocharian is welcome, but not necessary. 
There will be short daily homework assignments and a take-home final exam (for additional ECTS points).  

Course materials
Course documents will be provided; no textbook is required.