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The Germanic Third Weak Class

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

Jay H. Jasanoff
Jay H. Jasanoff*
Affiliation:
Harvard University
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Abstract

Germanic verbs of the 3rd weak class form presents characterized by an alternation between predesinential ∗ai (e.g. Go. 3sg. habaiþ) and ∗a (e.g. 1pl. habam). These verbs are usually compared with the ‘ē-verbs’ of Italic and Balto-Slavic, but no IE present built on the stative suffix ∗-ē- will account phonologically for the form of the suffix in Germanic. Instead, it can be shown that the characteristic Germanic paradigm results from the ‘activization’ of an older middle paradigm in which a 3sg. in ∗-ai (< IE ∗-oi; cf. Skt. duhé ‘milks‘) was further suffixed by the productive active ending ∗-þi (< IE ∗-ti).

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , December 1973 , pp. 850 - 870
Copyright
Copyright © 1973 by Linguistic Society of America

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