1

Are Proto-Slavic present passive participle forms (e.g., *beromъ) from first-person singular present forms (e.g., *berǫ)?

0

1 Answer 1

2

No, I don't think there's a formal or semantic reason to think so, especially since Slavic -mъ is a perfect cognate with Baltic *-mas of the same meaning (cf. Lithuanian žiūrimas filmas, a film that's being watched), and thematic 1sg. in Baltic languages continues the original PIE *-oh₂, without the Slavic addition of -m.

The origin of this Balto-Slavic *-mas however is not perfectly clear. It's extremely tempting to link it to Greek -μενος and Sanskrit -(m)ānas, with the identical (and not that ubiquitous present (medio)passive) function, especially since the ending also seems to appear far from the closely related Graeco-Aryan dialects, in Tocharian, and in Latin (in two words: alumnus and femina). Unfortunately BS *-mas can't be derived from that ending (which itself poses some problems for reconstruction, but *-mh₁nos and *-menos are a couple of suggestion) without invoking a possible, but ad-hoc simplification mn>m. The fact that a lot more obviously related ending appears in one Old Prussian word (poklausīmanas) if anything only confuses the matter further.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.