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Wheeler's Law, Dieter Gunkel
Wheeler's Law, Dieter Gunkel
Classical Studies Faculty Publications
“Wheeler’s Law” refers to a phonologically conditioned accent retraction process reconstructed for an early pandialectal stage of Greek by which oxytone words became paroxytone if they ended in a heavy-light-light syllable sequence (HLL), e.g. *[poi̯ kilós] > [poi̯ kílos] ‘multicolored’, *[dedegmenós] > [dedegménos] ‘awaiting, expecting’ (LHLL). Note that word-final syllables ending in a short vowel followed by one consonant (e.g. [os]) count as light for Wheeler’s Law, just as they do for the Law of Limitation. The accent retraction was originally proposed by Benjamin Ide Wheeler (1854–1927) in 1885; for further insights, analysis, and references, see Probert 2006.
Accentuation, Dieter Gunkel
Accentuation, Dieter Gunkel
Classical Studies Faculty Publications
The accent marks in modern editions of Ancient Greek texts primarily reflect the accentual system of an educated register of the Koine of the early 2nd c. BCE. In this system, phonological, morphological, and lexical factors conspire to associate a pitch accent with one syllable of each lexical word. The phonology of the language permits limited contrasts in accentual position (λιθοβόλος vs. λιθόβολος = lithobólos vs. lithóbolos) and type (ἰσθμοί vs. ἰσθμοῖ = isthmói ̯ vs. isthmôi)̯; in the latter case, the syllable marked with an acute accent hosts a High tone, and that marked with a circumflex hosts a …
Caesurae, Bridges, And The Colometry Of Four Tocharian B Meteres, Christoph Bross, Dieter Gunkel, Kevin M. Ryan
Caesurae, Bridges, And The Colometry Of Four Tocharian B Meteres, Christoph Bross, Dieter Gunkel, Kevin M. Ryan
Classical Studies Faculty Publications
The Tocharians composed verse in hierarchical structures, with the verse dominating major cola, and the major colon in turn dominating one or more minor cola. After providing much-needed descriptive data on Tocharian meter, we assess the evidence for the distinction between major vs. minor caesurae in some of the most popular Tocharian B meters, finding support for the commonly assumed colometries in some but not all cases. Of particular interest is the recurring 4+3 syllable colon, since the violability of its internal (putatively minor) caesurae varies significantly across meters. We argue that this varying strictness is indeed a function of …
Law Of Limitation, Dieter Gunkel
Law Of Limitation, Dieter Gunkel
Classical Studies Faculty Publications
The ‘Law of Limitation’ refers to a phonological process that limits how far from the end of a word an accent may be located: if the word-final syllable is light, the accent may be located as far from the end of the word as the antepenult, e.g. εὑρήματα[heu̯ rέːmata] ‘discoveries (nom./acc. neuter plural)’, ἐβούλευε [ebóːleu̯ u̯ e] ‘(s)he was deliberating (impf. 3 sg.)’; if the word-final syllable is heavy, the accent may be located as far from word-end as the penult, e.g. εὑρημάτων [heu̯ rεːmátɔːn] ‘discoveries (gen. n. pl.)’, βουλεύω [boːléu̯ u̯ ɔː] ‘I am deliberating (pres. 1 sg.)’ (Göttling …