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Document Details : Title: More on the Indo-European Comparative Author(s): SHIELDS, Kenneth Journal: Orbis Volume: 37 Date: 1994 Pages: 176-183 DOI: 10.2143/ORB.37.0.2012774 Abstract : In Shields (1980), I present a theory about the origin of the markers of adjectival comparison in Indo-European and the early dialects. Over a decade later, I continue to accept the basic premise of this article — that the markers of adjectival comparison have their origin in the contamination of various non-singular suffixes. This premise is based on the traditional idea that “certain markers of the comparative and the superlative are etymologically related to the intensive verbal aspect (Prokosch 1939: 265)” and the more recent proposal of Dressler (1968) that “the intensive (as well as a number of other verbal aspects) is a «bestimmte Nuance der verbalen Pluralität» (Erhart 1973: 245)”, which, along with the nominal plural, constitutes a combinatory variant of the sememe “Pluralität”. In this brief paper, however, I want to modify a number of specific analyses in Shields (1980) on the basis of some subsequent ideas of mine about the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European non-singular markers and numerals. In my opinion, these modifications serve to strengthen the original central thesis of my paper on adjectival comparison. |
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