Distribution of Pie Ablaut Grades

Abstract

Abstract Even though the origins of ablaut (125-6) were necessarily phonological, by the earliest period reachable by the comparative method the distribution of different ablaut grades in PIE had been MORPHOLOGIZED, that is, a given form or class of forms was associated with a certain grade in PIE. This is particularly true of the distribution of e- vs. o-grades, since the distribution of full vs. zero grades was still to some extent phonological. As is to be expected when phonological alternations are captured by morphology, the system was never completely regular; indeed, it tended with time to became more regular rather than less, where the patterns remained clear at any rate. Thus, evidence points to a non-ablauting root “bhii- or “bhu- ‘become’; but various IE languages introduced full grades into the root in accord with the prevailing ablaut patterns: so Skt. bhavati ‘becomes’. No list of the morphological categories of the grades can be exhaustive or even completely accurate, since PIE was a language like any other and had forms that stood apart from the general patterns: aor. “ebhiit or “ebhuHt ‘became’ should have had a full grade in the root, but as mentioned above, it did not: G e<f>v, Ved. dbhiit. Pple. “gneHrt6- ‘known’ should have had a zero grade in the root, but did not: L notus, Ved. jniitd-. PIE “H2eg- ‘drive’ seems to have been stuck in e-grade, so to speak, as that is seen even in formations that nearly universally embody o-grade of the root, such as the PIE o-grade o-stem ending-accented agent noun;