1 Linguistics 051 Proto-Indo-European Language and Society fall 2010 Professor: Rolf Noyer Office: Williams Hall 603 Office Hours: Tuesday 4 6, W 11:30-1:30. Department: Linguistics, Williams Hall 619 email: rnoyer@babel.ling.upenn.edu Class meeting: MW 3:30-5:00, Williams Hall 220 Textbooks: Available at the Penn Bookstore Fortson, Benjamin W. Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. 2010. Anthony, David W. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language. Princeton University Press, 2007. Supplementary readings will be supplied by the instructor and available through the course website. Please note: I will be out of the country attending a conference the first week of classes. Consequently, our first class meeting will be held MONDAY Sept. 13th. Your assignment for the first class is: (1) obtain the two required textbooks (2) Read Forston pp. 1 24 and Anthony pp. 1 133.
2 Prospectus This seminar is intended as a general introduction to Indo-European studies and linguistics. Proto-Indo- European refers to a reconstructed (hypothetical) language putatively spoken perhaps around 4500 BC in an area of southern Eurasia. Most of the modern languages of Europe, Iran, Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent can be shown to be descendants of this language. The population that spoke this language is normally referred to as the Proto-Indo-Europeans. We will examine questions such as: How is Proto-Indo-European reconstructed and what was this language like? What aspects of Proto-Indo-European society can be inferred from this reconstructed language? What does the archeological record contribute to the reconstruction of this lost society? Where did the Proto-Indo-Europeans live? How did descendants of Proto-Indo-European come to be spoken over such a vast area? What is known about the earliest written languages that descend from Proto-Indo-European, and what aspects of the societies that used these languages retain relic, prehistoric practices and beliefs? How was the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European culture misunderstood and misappropriated by 19th and 20th century proponents of Aryan supremacy? To what extent are modern speakers of Indo-European languages actually descendants of the Proto- Indo-Europeans? Ling 51 fulfills both the College s general requirement in History and Tradition and the requirement in Cultural Diversity.
3 Structure of the course. Ling 51 covers many topics and will require a substantial amount of reading (an average of 100 pages per week). The general structure of the course will involve alternating between linguistic and sociocultural topics. On the linguistic side we will cover: the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) and its grammatical properties and how the its most important immediate descendants emerged, including Hittite, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Germanic (Gothic, Old Norse, Old English), Old Irish, Old Church Slavonic and Tocharian. On the sociocultural side we will examine aspects of the reconstruction of PIE society, including: social organization; property and law; gods, rituals and cult practices; myths, poetry and epics; material culture and technology and the archeology of Eurasia. Readings from the textbooks are indicated in the syllabus by followed by F (for Fortson) and A (for Anthony). Vocabulary refers to short lists of reconstructed Proto-Indo-European words listed at the ends of the chapters of Fortson s book, beginning with chapter 9. Where indicated on the syllabus, you should acquaint yourself with the vocabulary lists so that you can give the approximate English meaning of each root, as well as any modern English cognates of the root if listed (they are printed in SMALL CAPITALS). Requirements Class discussion on questions about assigned readings or short problems: 30% Two short (6-10 page) essays based on a choice of supplementary readings: 15% each Linguistic problem sets: short homeworks to solve linguistic problems: 15% Final exam: 25%
4 Schedule 1 8 Sept W Introduction. Comparative Method. Indo-European Family. F chap. 1 (pp. 1-17); A chs. 1-3 (pp. 1-58). 2 13 Sept M Introduction to the Reconstruction of Culture. Proto-Indo-European Society. F pp. 18-24; A chs. 4-7 (pp. 59-133). 3 15 Sept W PIE Phonology and Morphology. F chaps. 3-4 (pp. 53-87). Vocabulary 1: Man, woman, kinship, p. 200. 4 20 Sept M Archaeology and Linguistics. F 2.50 (pp. 39-40); A. ch. 8-10 (pp. 134-224). 5 22 Sept W Material Culture and Technology. F 2.51-2.73 (pp. 40-49); A. ch. 11-12 (pp. 225-299). Vocabulary 2, 3: Animals, agriculture, p. 226, 247. 6 27 Sept M PIE Homeland Debate. A ch. 13 (pp. 300-339). 7 29 Sept W PIE Verbs and Nouns. Vocabulary 8: Material culture, p. 399. Problem Set 1 due. F chaps. 5-6 (pp. 88-139). 8 4 Oct M PIE Pronouns and Syntax F chaps. 7-8 (pp. 140-169). 9 6 Oct W The Hittite Empire and ancient Anatolia. Property and Law. Wealth, Exchange, Hospitality. Vocabulary 7: Position and Motion, p. 381. Vocabulary 12: Basic Physical Acts, p. 471. Problem Set 2 due. [11 Oct M No class. Fall break] 10 13 Oct W ANATOLIAN: Hittite and its relatives. F ch. 9 (pp. 170-200). [15 Oct Last Day to Drop a Course] 11 18 Oct M Pre-history of East Central Asia. The Tarim Mummies. Problem Set 3 due. 12 20 Oct W TOCHARIAN A ch. 15-16. (pp. 371-459). F ch. 17 (pp. 400-413).
5 13 25 Oct M INDO-IRANIAN: Sanskrit, Avestan. F ch. 10, 11 (pp. 202-247). 14 27 Oct W Gods of the Indo-Europeans. F 2.17-2.24 (pp. 25-27). Vocabulary 6: Natural environment, p. 337. 15 1 Nov M Rituals and Cults F 2.25-2.28 (pp. 27-29). Vocabulary 4, 5: The Body, p. 273 and p. 307. Problem Set 4 due. 16 3 Nov W PIE mythology. Dumézil s Theory of Tripartition. F 2.29-2.35 (pp. 29-32). Vocabulary 10: Time, p. 445. 17 8 Nov M GREEK ch. 12 (pp. 248-273). 18 10 Nov W Mycenean Civilization and the Greek Dark Age. First short paper due. 19 15 Nov M PIE Poetics. Oral Composition, Formula and Metrics F 2.37-2.49 (pp. 32-39). Vocabulary 11: Utterance, p. 458. Vocabulary 9: Form and size, p. 413. 20 17 Nov W Proto-Indo-European and European Prehistory A ch. 14.(pp. 340-370). 21 22 Nov M BALTO-SLAVIC: Old Church Slavonic and Lithuanian. F ch. 18 (pp. 414-445). 22 24 Nov W ITALIC: Latin and its relatives. F ch. 13 (pp. 274-307). [25 Nov Thanksgiving] 23 29 Nov M CELTIC: Continental Celtic and Old Irish. F ch. 14 (pp. 309-337). Problem Set 5 due. 24 1 Dec W GERMANIC: Runic and Gothic, Old English, Old Norse. F ch. 15 (pp. 338-381). 25 6 Dec M Pseudo-Science and the Ideology of Aryan Supremacy 26 8 Dec W Last class. Review. Second short paper due. 16 Dec Th Final Exam. 3:00-5:00 pm.