THEO VENNEMANN

email: Vennemann@germanistik.uni-muenchen.de
http://www.theo-vennemann.com
phone: +49-89-2180-2994
fax: +49-89-2180-3371


Festschrift


Video


Unterrichtsmaterialien
(Passwort erforderlich)


Publications

Languages in prehistoric Europe

Abstracts

Historical Phonology
(except consonant shifts)

German and Germanic consonant shifts

Historical Morphology

Word order studies

Typology
(except word order studies)

Syntax and Semantics

Phonology and Morphonology

General Linguistics

Introductions to General Linguistics

Rhenish Matron names

Runology

Varia

Editing







CV:
 
1937
Born May 27 in Oberhausen-Sterkrade, Germany
Full name: Theo Vennemann genannt Nierfeld
1943-57
Elementary and highschool education; highschool diploma (Abitur) of Hoffmann-von-Fallersleben-Schule, Braunschweig
1957-59
Student of mathematics, physics and philosophy, University of Göttingen
1959-64
Student of mathematics, German philology, and philosophy, University of Marburg. State board examination (M.A. equivalent) "mit Auszeichnung".
Thesis: "Die intuitionistische Funktionenlehre und Algebra L. E. J. Brouwers". Supervisor: H. Arnold Schmidt
1964-65
Research associate, Linguistic Research Center, University of Texas at Austin (Director: Winfried P. Lehmann)
1965-68
Student and teaching assistant in the Department of German, University of California, Los Angeles. Ph.D. in Germanic Languages "with distinction". Dissertation: "German phonology". Supervisor: Terence H. Wilbur
1968-69
Assistant Professor of German, Department of German and Russian, University of California, Irvine
1969-74
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor (1972), and Professor (1973) of Linguistics, University of California, Los Angeles
1971
Visiting Professor, Linguistic Institute, LSA, at SUNY Buffalo
1972
Visiting Professor, California Linguistic Institute, UC Santa Cruz
1972-73
Guest Professor, Department of German, Free University, Berlin
1974 to 2005
Professor, Chair of Germanic and Theoretical Linguistics, Department of German Philology, University of Munich
1976
(summer)
Visiting Professor, University of Salzburg
1977
Visiting Professor, Linguistic Summer Institute, University of Salzburg
1979
Visiting Professor (SLE Professor), Joint Linguistic Institute of the LSA and the University of Salzburg
1981-83
Vice Dean, Philosophische Fakultät für Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft II, University of Munich
1983
(summer)
Visiting Professor, Linguistic Institute, LSA, at UC Los Angeles
1983-85
Dean, Philosophische Fakultät für Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft II, University of Munich
Since
1 Oct. 2005
Emeritus, University of Munich
Nov. 2005
Visiting scholar, Sonderforschungsbereich "Mehrsprachigkeit", University of Hamburg
March-May 2010
Visiting Fellow, Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra

German citizen, unmarried, one daughter (born 1966)

Member of Rotary Club Munich International
Paper given at the Rotary Club: "English – a German dialect?"


Teaching areas:
  • Grammar of Contemporary German; 
  • History of the German language; 
  • Theory of language incl. language change, especially phonology; 
  • Languages in prehistoric Europe. 





  • Festschrift back

    David Restle and Dietmar Zaefferer,
    eds., (2002)
    Sounds and systems: Studies in structure and change: A festschrift for Theo Vennemann (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 141). Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter).



    Spracharchäologische Untersuchungen zur Entstehung Europas:
    Der semitische Beitrag (Video). Lecture given at the Linguistisches Kolloquium, University of Munich, 13 July 2005
    back

    Description Link

    Introduction, lecture, and discussion
    (duration ca. 75 minutes).
    Fast internet connection required (DSL or faster).

    Video

    Handout with transparencies and figures (48 pages)

    Vennemann_2005_07_13.pdf
    (ca. 3.9 MB)


    The video requires QuickTime. You can download a free copy of QuickTime here:
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    The handout is a pdf file. You can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here: http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html.



    Publications

    Languages in prehistoric Europe back      

    Selected Abstracts

    Theo Vennemann (2013) "Concerning myself ", in: Robert Mailhammer (ed.), Lexical and structural etymology: Beyond word histories (Studies in Language Change, 11), Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 121-146.
    Theo Vennemann (2013) "The mediae (b d g) in Punic and in the futhark", see Section "Runology".
    Theo Vennemann (2013) "Vowels in Punic and in Runic", see Section "Runology".
    Theo Vennemann (2012) "Zur Etymologie von Rauch und riechen", in: Theo Vennemann, Germania Semitica , cap. 12, 219-223.
    Theo Vennemann (2012) Germania Semitica , hrsg. Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 259), Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2012.
    Theo Vennemann (2012) "Athel and its relatives: Origin and decline of a noble family of words", English Studies 93, 950-986.
    Theo Vennemann (2012) "Amsel and Merula", in: Patricia Noel Aziz Hanna (Ed.) & Theo Vennemann gen. Nierfeld, Germania Semitica (TiLSM 259), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2012, 43-48.
    Theo Vennemann (2011) "Griechisch, lateinisch, etruskisch, karhagisch? Zur Herkunft der Runen", see Section "Runology".
    Theo Vennemann (2010) "Contact and prehistory in the Indo-European Northwest: Lexical influences", Sprachwissenschaft 35, 247-290.
    Theo Vennemann (2010) "Contact and prehistory: The Indo-European Northwest", in: Raymond Hickey (ed.), The handbook of language contact (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics), Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, 380-405.
    Theo Vennemann (2010) "The source of the Ing rune and of the futhark", see Section "Runology".
    Theo Vennemann (2009) "Zur Reihung der Runen im älteren Futþark", see Section "Runology".
    Theo Vennemann (2009) I and U: "Glide accretion in Ubian, English, and Celtic", see Section "Historical phonology (except consonant shifts)"
    Theo Vennemann (2009) "Semitic influence in Celtic? Yes and No", in: Esa Penttilä and Heli Paulasto (eds.), Language contacts meet English dialects: Studies in honour of Markku Filppula, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 163-175.
    Theo Vennemann (2009) "Celtic influence in English? Yes and No", English Language and Linguistics 13, 309-334.
    Armin Höfer and
    Theo Vennemann (2009)
    "Aßling an der Attel und das Toponymie-Postulat", Beiträge zur Namenforschung 44, 257-265.
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "Grimm's Law and loanwords", see Section "German and Germanic consonant shifts".
    Theo Vennemann (2012) "Was Proto-Germanic a creole language?", in: Theo Vennemann, Germania Semitica , cap. 22, 423-445.
    Theo Vennemann (2012) "A note on the etymology of Germanic +skellingaz 'shilling'". In: Theo Vennemann, Germania Semitica , cap. 25, 485-495.
    Theo Vennemann (2008) "Zur Etymologie von Busch und boscus sowie zu Bus- und Bos- in der Alteuropäischen Toponymie: Mit einem Appendix zur Etymologie von Büste", Sprachwissenschaft 33, 107-138.
    Theo Vennemann (2008) "Zur Etymologie von Biedenkopf und zum 'Fugenelement -n", Beiträge zur Namenforschung, Neue Folge 43, 375-379.
    Theo Vennemann (2008) "Münze, mint, and money: An etymology for Latin Moneta: With appendices on Carthaginian Tanit and the Indo-European month word", in: Alexander Lubotsky, Jos Schaeken and Jeroen Wiedenhof, eds., Evidence and counter-evidence: Essays in honour of Frederik Kortlandt, 2 vols. (SSGL 32 & 33), vol. 1: Balto-Slavic and Indo-European linguistics, vol. 2: General linguistics, Amsterdam (Rodopi), I.569-590.
    Theo Vennemann (2007) "Basken wie wir: Linguistisches und Genetisches zum europäischen Stammbaum", BiologenHeute 5/6, 6-11.
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "'A satisfactory etymology has long been available': Notes on Vasconic names outside the Basque country: With particular reference to some British Arn- and Earn- names and to German Arnoldsweiler", in: Jose Ignacio Hualde and Joseba Lakarra, eds., Studies in Basque and historical linguistics in memory of R. L. Trask (Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca "Julio de Urquijo", 40.1-2), Donostia / San Sebastián, Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa, 969-992.
    Theo Vennemann (2006)
    "Germanische Runen und phönizisches Alphabet", see Section "Runology".
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "Ne'er-a-face: A note on the etymology of penny: With an appendix on the etymology of pane", in: Leiv Egil Breivik, Sandra Halverson and Kari E. Haugland, eds., 'These things write I vnto thee ...': Essays in honour of Bjørg Bækken, Oslo (Novus Press), 269-290.
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "The name of the Isle of Thanet", in: Andrew James Johnston, Ferdinand von Mengden, and Stefan Thim, eds., Language and text: Current perspectives on English and Germanic historical linguistics and philology [a festschrift for Klaus Dietz on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, 10 December 2005], Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 345-374.
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "Ortsnamen von Personennamen? Das letzte Beispiel", in: Ursula Götz and Stefanie Stricker, eds., Neue Perspektiven der Sprachgeschichte: Internationales Kolloquium des Zentrums für Mittelalterstudien der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, 11. und 12. Februar 2005, Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 269-283.
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "Glauben wir noch an die Lautgesetze? Zur Etymologie von Phol und Balder im Zweiten Merseburger Zauberspruch", in: Gerhard Meiser and Olav Hackstein, eds., Sprachkontakt und Sprachwandel: Akten der XI. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, 17.-23. September 2000, Halle an der Saale, Wiesbaden (Reichert), 709-733.
    Theo Vennemann (2004) "Note on the etymology of PGmc. +smtan and +smiaz (E smite, smith, G schmeißen, Schmied, etc.).", in: Adam Hyllested, Anders Richardt Jørgensen, Jenny Helena Larsson and Thomas Olander, eds., Per aspera ad asteriscos: Studia Indogermanica in honorem Jens Elmegård Rasmussen sexagenarii Idibus Martiis anno MMIV (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft, 112), Innsbruck (Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck), 601-613.
    Theo Vennemann (2004) "Sprachgeburt durch Sprachkontakt: Die Entstehung des Englischen", in: Peter Schrijver and Peter-Arnold Mumm, eds., Sprachtod und Sprachgeburt (Münchner Forschungen zur historischen Sprachwissenschaft, 2), Bremen (Hempen), 21-56.
    Theo Vennemann (2004) "Phol, Balder, and the birth of Germanic", in: Irma Hyvärinen, Petri Kallio, and Jarmo Korhonen, eds., Etymologie, Entlehnungen und Entwicklungen: Festschrift für Jorma Koivulehto zum 70. Geburtstag, Helsinki (Société Néophilologique), 439-457.
    Theo Vennemann (2003) Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 138), Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna, ed., Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter). Abstracts
    Theo Vennemann (2003) "Zur Frage der vorindogermanischen Substrate in Mittel- und Westeuropa", in: Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 138), Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna, ed., Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 517-590, chapter 17, with Abstract
    Theo Vennemann (2003) "Languages in prehistoric Europe north of the Alps", in: Alfred Bammesberger and Theo Vennemann, eds., Languages in Prehistoric Europe (Indogermanische Bibliothek, Dritte Reihe), Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 319-332.
    Theo Vennemann (2003) "Syntax und Sprachkontakt: Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der indogermanischen Sprachen des Nordwestens", in: Alfred Bammesberger and Theo Vennemann, eds., Languages in Prehistoric Europe (Indogermanische Bibliothek, Dritte Reihe), Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 333-364.
    Theo Vennemann (2003) "Germania Semitica: +sibj", in: Wilhelm Heizmann and Astrid van Nahl, eds., Runica - Germanica - Mediaevalia (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 37), Berlin (Walter de Gruyter), 871-891.
    Robert Mailhammer, Stephen Laker, and Theo Vennemann (2003) "PGmc. +drepa, G treffen 'to hit'". Studia Etymologica Cracoviensia 8, 103-110.
    Theo Vennemann (2002) "Key issues in English etymology", in: Teresa Fanego, Belén Méndez-Naya and Elena Seoane, eds., Sounds, words, texts and change: Selected papers from the Eleventh International Conference on English Historical Linguistics, Santiago de Compostela, 7-11 September 2000 (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 224), Amsterdam (John Benjamins), 227-330.
    Theo Vennemann (2002) "Semitic -> Celtic -> English: The transitivity of language contact", in: Markku Filppula, Juhani Klemola and Heli Pitkänen, eds., The Celtic roots of English (Studies in Languages 37), Joensuu (University of Joensuu, Faculty of Humanities), 295-330.
    Theo Vennemann (2002) "On the rise of 'Celtic' syntax in Middle English", Peter J. Lucas and Angela M. Lucas, eds., Middle English From Tongue To Text: Selected Papers from the Third International Conference on Middle English: Language and Text, held at Dublin, Ireland, 1-4 July 1999 (Studies in English Medieval Language and Literature 4), Bern (Peter Lang), 203-234.
    Theo Vennemann (2002) "Germania Semitica: Gmc. +drag-, +trek-, Lat. trah-, Gk. - etc.", in: Fabrice Cavoto, ed., The linguist's list: A collection of papers in honour of Alexis Manaster Ramer, 2 vols, München (Lincom), II. 437-446.
    Theo Vennemann (2002) "Germania Semitica: Pre-Gmc. +-at- in E maiden, G Magd/Mädchen, Goth. magas". Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 56, 1-16.
    Theo Vennemann (2001) "Atlantis Semitica: Structural contact features in Celtic and English", in: Laurel Brinton, ed., Historical Linguistics 1999: Selected Papers from the 14th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Vancouver, 9-13 August 1999 (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 215), Amsterdam (John Benjamins), 351-369.
    Theo Vennemann (2001) "Germania Semitica: +abr- 'strong', with a reflection on Abraham/Theodoric", Sprachwissenschaft 26, 85-92.
    Theo Vennemann (2001) "Germania Semitica: +aal- (OE æðel-, G Adel) 'nobility': With an appendix on Gk. ", Sprachwissenschaft 26, 189-204.
    Theo Vennemann (2000) "Zur Entstehung des Germanischen", Sprachwissenschaft 25, 233-269.
    Theo Vennemann (2000) "Water all over the place: The Old European toponyms and their Vasconic origin, with notes on the names of Cannes and Le Suquet", in: Raoul Caruba and Rosa Galvez-Cloutier, eds., Actes du 2ème Symposium International de l'Eau, Cannes, 29-31 Mai 2000, Nice (IRIM-Université, de Nice-Sophia Antipolis), 257-263. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 27, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (2000) "English as a 'Celtic' language: Atlantic influences from above and from below", in: Hildegard L. C. Tristram, ed., The Celtic Englishes II (Anglistische Forschungen 286), Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 399-406.
    Theo Vennemann (2000) "Grundfragen der Ortsnamenforschung, dargestellt an den Beispielen Ebersberg und Yssingeaux sowie weiteren bayerischen und europäischen örtlichkeitsnamen", Land um den Ebersberger Forst: Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kultur (Jahrbuch des Historischen Vereins für den Landkreis Ebersberg 2, 1999), Neukeferloh/München (Lutz Garnies), 8-28. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 26, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1999) "Zur Etymologie von Senne: Mit einem Anhang zur Etymologie von lat. cseus 'Käse'", in: Wolfgang Schindler and Jürgen Untermann, eds., Grippe, Kamm und Eulenspiegel: Festschrift für Elmar Seebold zum 65. Geburtstag, Berlin (Walter de Gruyter), 359-372. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 23, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1999) "Testing the West: Hesperia, Euskal Herria, Europe, Abendland and supporting etymologies", in: Neile A. Kirk and Paul J. Sidwell, eds., From Neanderthal to Easter Island: A tribute to, and celebration of, the work of W. Wilfried Schuhmacher: Presented on the occasion of his 60th birthday (Association for the History of Language, Monograph Series 1, AHL Studies in the Science and History of Language 2). Melbourne (Association for the History of Language, Australian National University), 85-102. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 25, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1999) "Remarks on some British place names", in: Gerald F. Carr, Wayne Harbert, and Lihua Zhang, eds., Interdigitations: Essays for Irmengard Rauch, New York (Peter Lang), 25-62. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 16, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Etymology and phonotactics: Latin grandis vs. Basque handi 'big' and similar problems", Journal of Indo-European Studies 26, 345-390. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 20, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Basken, Semiten, Indogermanen: Urheimatfragen in linguistischer und anthropologischer Sicht", in: Wolfgang Meid, ed., Sprache und Kultur der Indogermanen: Akten der X. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft, Innsbruck, 22.-28. September 1996 (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 93), Innsbruck (Universität Innsbruck, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft), 119-138. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 14, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Germania Semitica: Biene und Imme: Mit einem Anhang zu lat. apis", Sprachwissenschaft 23, 471-487. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 21, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Zur Etymologie von Éire, dem Namen Irlands", Sprachwissenschaft 23, 461-469. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 22, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Andromeda and the Apples of the Hesperides", in: Karlene Jones-Bley, Angela Della Volpe, Miriam Robbins Dexter, and Martin E. Huld, eds., Proceedings of the Ninth Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference, Los Angeles, May 23, 24, 1997 (Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph Series 28), Washington, D.C. (Institute for the Study of Man), 1-68. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 18, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Germania Semitica: +plg-/+pleg-, +furh-/+farh-, +folk-/+flokk-, +felh-/+folg-", in: Karin Donhauser and Ludwig M. Eichinger, eds., Deutsche Grammatik - Thema in Variationen: Festschrift für Hans-Werner Eroms zum 60. Geburtstag, Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 245-261. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 19, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Pre-Indo-European toponyms in Central and Western Europe: Bid-/Bed- and Pit- names", in: Wilhelm F. H. Nicolaisen, ed., Proceedings of the XIXth International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Aberdeen, August 4 - 11, 1996: Scope, perspectives and methods of onomastics, 3 vols. Aberdeen (University of Aberdeen, Department of English), II.359-363. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 15, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1997) "Der Kastalische Quell, die Gastein und das Rätische: Mit einem Anhang zu Kassandra und Kastianeira", in: Elvira Glaser and Michael Schlaefer, eds., Grammatica ianua artium: Festschrift für Rolf Bergmann zum 60. Geburtstag. Heidelberg (C. Winter), 479-503. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 12, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1997) "Some West Indo-European words of uncertain origin", in: Raymond Hickey and Stanisaw Puppel, eds., Language History and Language Modelling: A Festschrift for Jacek Fisiak on his 60th birthday (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 101), 2 vols. Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), I.879-908. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 10, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1997) "Atlantiker in Nordwesteuropa: Pikten und Vanen", in: Stig Eliasson and Ernst Håkon Jahr, eds., Language and its Ecology: Essays in memory of Einar Haugen (= Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 100). Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 451-476. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 11, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1996) "German Eisvogel, Greek halkyn, English alder: A study in Old European etymology", Interdisciplinary Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Semiotic Analysis 1, 113-145. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 9, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1995) "Zur Erklärung des Baiern-Namens", Sprachwissenschaft 20, 380-395. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 8, with Abstract
    Theo Vennemann (1995) "Etymologische Beziehungen im Alten Europa", Der GinkgoBaum: Germanistisches Jahrbuch für Nordeuropa 13, 39-115. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 7, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "Linguistic reconstruction in the context of European prehistory", Transactions of the Philological Society 92, 215-284. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 6, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "Der Name der Landeshauptstadt München", Literatur in Bayern 37, 2-7. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 5, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "Die mitteleuropäischen Orts- und Matronennamen mit f, , h und die Spätphase der Indogermania", in: George E. Dunkel, Gisela Meyer, Salvatore Scarlata and Christian Seidl, eds., Früh-, Mittel-, Spätindogermanisch: Akten der IX. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen Gesellschaft vom 5. bis 9. Oktober 1992 in Zürich, Wiesbaden (Ludwig Reichert), 403-426. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 4, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1993) "Zur Erklärung bayerischer Gewässer- und Siedlungsnamen", Sprachwissenschaft 18, 425-483. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 3, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1993) "Ein ubisches Lautgesetz", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 115, 367-399.
    Theo Vennemann (1988) "Bairisch, Deutsch, Germanisch", Literatur in Bayern 1988: "Erster Teil: Das Deutsche", 12 (Juni 1988), 2-11; "Zweiter Teil: Germanisch und Indogermanisch", 13 (Sept. 1988), 48-53; "Dritter Teil und Schluß: Die Ausbreitung des Indogermanischen", 14 (Dez.1988), 44-51. "Dritter Teil und Schluß" reprinted as "Die Lautverschiebungen und die Ausbreitung des Indo-Germanischen" in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 138), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), chapter 2, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1984) "Bemerkung zum frühgermanischen Wortschatz", in: Hans-Werner Eroms, Bernhard Gajek and Herbert Kolb, eds., Studia Linguistica et Philologica: Festschrift für Klaus Matzel zum sechzigsten Geburtstag: überreicht von Schülern, Freunden und Kollegen, Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 105-119. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 1, with Abstract.



    Historical Phonology (except consonant shifts) back

    Theo Vennemann (2009) "I and U: Glide accretion in Ubian, English, and Celtic", Anglia 127, 208-237.
    Theo Vennemann (2000) "From quantity to syllable cuts: On so-called lengthening in the Germanic languages", Italian Journal of Linguistics / Rivista di Linguistica 12, 251-282.
    Theo Vennemann (2000) "Triple-cluster reduction in Germanic: Etymology without sound laws?", Historische Sprachwissenschaft (Historical Linguistics) 113, 239-258.
    Jorma Koivulehto
    and Theo Vennemann (1996)
    "Der finnische Stufenwechsel und das Vernersche Gesetz", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 118, 163-182.
    Theo Vennemann (1995) "Der Zusammenbruch der Quantität im Spätmittelalter und sein Einfluß auf die Metrik", in: Hans Fix, ed., Quantitätsproblematik und Metrik: Greifswalder Symposion zur germanischen Grammatik (Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik, 42), Amsterdam (Rodopi), 185-223.
    Theo Vennemann (1993) "On the justification of assumed prehistoric sound changes", in: L. Hovsepian, N. Parnasian and S. Simonian, eds., The Second International Symposium on Armenian Linguistics (21-23 September 1987): Proceedings, Eriwan (Armenian Academy Press), 187-207.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Der Ursprung der Baiern in sprachwissenschaftlicher Sicht", in: Gerhard Sitzmann, eds., Jahresberichte der Stiftung Aventinum (Abensberg) 3, 5-27.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Indo-European consonant shifts - algebra, arithmetic, or normal science?", in: Theo Vennemann, ed., The new sound of Indo-European: Essays in phonological reconstruction (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 41), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 231-244.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Reply to Claude Boisson's Remarks", in: Theo Vennemann, ed., The new sound of Indo-European: Essays in phonological reconstruction (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 41), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 227.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Phonological and morphological consequences of the 'glottalic theory'", in: Theo Vennemann, ed., The new sound of Indo-European: Essays in phonological reconstruction (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 41), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 107-115.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Preface", in: Theo Vennemann, ed., The new sound of Indo-European: Essays in phonological reconstruction (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 41), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), ix-xix.
    Theo Vennemann (1988) "Systems and changes in Early Germanic phonology: A search for hidden identities", in: Daniel G. Calder and T. Craig Christy, eds., Germania: Comparative studies in the Old Germanic languages and literatures, Woodbridge, Suffolk (D. S. Brewer), 45-65.
    Theo Vennemann (1987) "Muta cum Liquida: Worttrennung und Syllabierung im Gotischen: Mit einem Anhang zur Worttrennung in der Pariser Handschrift der althochdeutschen Isidor-übersetzung", Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur 116, 165-204.
    Theo Vennemann (1986) "Syllable-based sound changes in Early Armenian", Annual of Armenian Linguistics 7, 27-43.
    Theo Vennemann (1985) "Phonologically conditioned morphological change: Exceptions to Sievers' Law in Gothic", in: Edmund Gussmann, ed., Phonomorphology: Studies in the interaction of phonology and morphology, Lublin (Katholische Universität Lublin), 193-219.
    Oskar Schmidt
    and Theo Vennemann (1985)
    "Die niederdeutschen Grundlagen des neuhochdeutschen Lautsystems", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (Tübingen) 107, 1-20, 157-173.
    Robert W. Murray
    and Theo Vennemann (1983)
    "Sound change and syllable structure [: Problems] in Germanic phonology", Language 59, 514-528.
    Robert W. Murray
    and Theo Vennemann (1982)
    "Syllable contact change in Germanic, Greek and Sidamo", Klagenfurter Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 8, 321-349.
    Theo Vennemann (1979) "Grassmann's Law, Bartholomae's Law and linguistic methodology", in: Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr, eds., Linguistic Method: Essays in Honor of Herbert Penzl, Den Haag (Mouton), 557-584.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "Phonetic detail in assimilation: Problems in Germanic phonology", Language 48, 863-892.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "Sound change and markedness theory: On the history of the German consonant system", in: Robert P. Stockwell and Ronald K. S. Macaulay, eds., Linguistic change and generative theory: Essays from the UCLA Conference on Historical Linguistics in the Perspective of Transformational Theory, February 1969, Bloomington (Indiana University Press), 230-274.
    Theo Vennemann (1971) "The phonology of Gothic vowels", Language 47, 90-132.



    German and Germanic consonant shifts back

    Theo Vennemann (2008) "Lombards and Lautverschiebung: A unified account of the High Germanic Consonant Shift", Sprachwissenschaft 33, 213-256.
    Theo Vennemann (2006) "Grimm's Law and loanwords", Transactions of the Philological Society 104, 129-166.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "Dating the division between High and Low Germanic: A summary of arguments", in: Toril Swan, Endre Mørck and Olaf Jansen Westvik, eds., Language change and language structure: Older Germanic languages in a comparative perspective (Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs, 73), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 271-303.
    Theo Vennemann (1991) "Zur relativen Chronologie von Lautwandel und Wortentlehnung: Die Hochgermanische Lautverschiebung und ahd. pforta, churt und impfitn", Incontri Linguistici 14, 77-83.
    Theo Vennemann (1991) "The relative chronology of the High Germanic Consonant Shift and the West Germanic Anaptyxis", Diachronica 8, 45-57.
    Theo Vennemann (1988) "Die innergermanische Lautverschiebung und die Entstehung der germanischen und deutschen Dialekte", in: Mohammad Ali Jazayery and Werner Winter, eds., Languages and cultures: Studies in honor of Edgar C. Polomé (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 36), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 749-761.
    Theo Vennemann (1987) "Betrachtung zum Alter der hochgermanischen Lautverschiebung", in: Rolf Bergmann, Heinrich Tiefenbach and Lothar Voetz, eds., Althochdeutsch, vol. I: Grammatik - Glossen und Texte, Heidelberg (Carl Winter), 29-53.
    Theo Vennemann (1985) "The bifurcation theory of the Germanic and German consonant shifts: Synopsis and some further thoughts", in: Jacek Fisiak, ed., Papers from the 6th International Conference on Historical Linguistics (Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science, Series IV: Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 34), [Amsterdam] (John Benjamins), 527-547.
    Theo Vennemann (1984) "Hochgermanisch und Niedergermanisch: Die Verzweigungstheorie der germanisch-deutschen Lautverschiebungen", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (Tübingen) 106, 1-45.


    Historical Morphology back

    Theo Vennemann (1997) "The Development of Reduplicating Verbs in Germanic", in: Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr, eds., Insights in Germanic linguistics II: Classic and contemporary (Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs, 94), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 297-336.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "Zur Entwicklung der reduplizierenden Verben im Germanischen", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 116, 167-221.



    Word order studies back

    Theo Vennemann (2003) "Syntax und Sprachkontakt: Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der indogermanischen Sprachen des Nordwestens". See section "Langages in prehistoric Europe".
    Theo Vennemann (1984) "Verb second, verb late, and the brace construction in Germanic: A discussion", in: Jacek Fisiak, ed., Historical syntax (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 23), Berlin (Mouton), 627-636.
    Theo Vennemann (1982) "Deutsche, englische und koreanische Wortstellung aus typologischer Sicht", Zeitschrift für deutsche Sprache und Literatur (Seoul), 17, 7-35.
    Theo Vennemann (1980) "Témata, subjekty a slovosled: Od SXV k SVX pres TVX", in: Eva Hajicová et al., eds., Studie z transformacní gramatiky III: Nekteré neortodoxní smery (Univerzita Karlova v Praze, Fakulta Matematicko-Fyzikální), Prague (Státní pedagogické nakladatelství), 198-233. [Translation of "Topics, subjects, and word order: From SXV to SVX via TVX", 1974.]
    Theo Vennemann (1977) "Konstituenz und Dependenz in einigen neueren Grammatiktheorien", Sprachwissenschaft 2, 259-301.
    Theo Vennemann
    and Ray Harlow (1977)
    "Categorial grammar and consistent basic VX serialization", Theoretical Linguistics 4, 227-254.
    Theo Vennemann (1976) "Categorial grammar and the order of meaningful elements", in: Alphonse Juilland, ed., Linguistic Studies Offered to Joseph Greenberg on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday, Saratoga, California (Anma Libri), 615-634.
    Theo Vennemann (1975) "An explanation of drift", in: Charles N. Li, ed., Word Order and Word Order Change, Austin (University of Texas Press), 269-305.
    Theo Vennemann (1975) "Analogy in generative grammar: The origin of word order", in: Luigi Heilmann, ed., Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Linguists, Bologna-Florence, Aug. 28 - Sept. 2, 1972, vol. II, Bologna (Società editrice il Mulino), 79-83.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Language type and word order", Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Philologica 5, Linguistica Generalica I, 219-229.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Theoretical word order studies: Results and problems", Papiere zur Linguistik 7, 5-25.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Zur Theorie der Wortstellungsveränderung: Von SXV zu SVX über TVX", in: Gudula Dinser, ed., Zur Theorie der Sprachveränderung, mit Beiträgen von Hoenigswald, Kiparsky, Labov, Lenneberg, Meillet, Stern, Vennemann, Kronberg/Ts. (Scriptor), 265-314. [Translation of "Topics, subjects, and word order: From SXV to SVX via TVX", 1974.]
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Topics, subjects, and word order: From SXV to SVX via TVX", in: John Anderson and Charles Jones, eds., Historical Linguistics: Proceedings of the First International Congress of Historical Linguistics, Edinburgh, September 1973, vol. II, Amsterdam (North-Holland), 339-376.



    Typology (except word order studies) back

    Christian Strömsdörfer and Theo Vennemann (1993, 1995) "Ziele der syntaktischen Typologie", in: Joachim Jacobs, Arnim von Stechow, Wolfgang Sternefeld and Theo Vennemann, eds., Syntax: Ein internationales Handbuch zeitgenössischer Forschung / An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, 2 vols. (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science, 9.1-2), Berlin (Walter de Gruyter), II. 1031-1043.
    Theo Vennemann (1985) "Linguistic typologies in historical linguistics", in: Luciano Agostiniani et al., eds., Linguistica storica e cambiamento linguistico: Atti del XVI Congresso Internazionale di Studi, Firence 7-9 maggio 1982 (Pubblicazioni della Società di Linguistica Italiana, 23), Rom (Bulzoni), 87-91.
    Theo Vennemann (1985) "Universals, preferences, typologies: Definitions and delimitations", in: Ursula Pieper and Gerhard Stickel, eds., Studia Linguistica et Diachronica: Werner Winter sexagenario anno MCMLXXXIII gratis animis ab eius collegis, amicis discipulisque oblata, Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 861-880.
    Theo Vennemann (1984) "Typology, universals, and change of language", in: Jacek Fisiak, ed., Historical syntax (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 23), Berlin (Mouton), 593-612.
    Theo Vennemann (1982) "Agglutination - Isolation - Flexion? Zur Stimmigkeit typologischer Parameter", in: Siglinde Heinz and Ulrich Wandruszka, eds., Fakten und Theorien: Beiträge zur romanischen und allgemeinen Sprachwissenschaft: Festschrift für Helmut Stimm zum 65. Geburtstag, Tübingen (Gunter Narr), 327-334.
    Theo Vennemann (1982) "What is a linguistic typology?" Studies in Linguistics (Taegu Linguistic Society, Korea), 2, 3-44.



    Syntax and Semantics back

    Theo Vennemann (1987) "Tempora und Zeitrelation im Standarddeutschen", Sprachwissenschaft 12, 234-249.
    Theo Vennemann (1982) "Remarks on grammatical relations", in: The Linguistic Society of Korea, ed., Linguistics in the Morning Calm: Selected papers from SICOL-1981, Seoul (Hanshin), 233-267.
    Theo Vennemann (1978) "Tautologies and contradictions: Problems with comparison", in: Dietrich Hartmann, Hansjürgen Linke and Otto Ludwig, eds., Sprache in Gegenwart und Geschichte: Festschrift für Heinrich Matthias Heinrichs zum 65. Geburtstag, Köln (Böhlau), 209-214.
    Alda Santangelo
    and Theo Vennemann (1976)
    "Italian unstressed pronouns and universal syntax", Italian Linguistics 2, 37-43. [Corresponds to chapters 2, 3, and 4 of Semantic Structures, 1972.]
    Theo Vennemann (1975) "Topics, sentence accent, ellipsis: A proposal for their formal treatment", in: Edward L. Keenan, ed., Formal Semantics of Natural Language: Papers from a Colloquium Sponsored by the King's College Research Centre, Cambridge, Cambridge (Cambridge University Press), 313-328.
    Alda Santangelo
    and Theo Vennemann (1974)
    "I pronomi atoni in italiano e la teoria universale della sintassi", in: Mario Medici and Antonella Sangregorio, eds., Fenomeni morfologici e sintattici nell'italiano contemporaneo: Atti del sesto congresso internazionale di studi, Roma, 4-6 settembre 1972, vol. I (Publicazioni della Società di Linguistica Italiana, 7.1.2), Rome (Bulzoni), 301-307.
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1973)
    "Bemerkungen zu dem Buch Semantic structures", Linguistische Berichte 24, 75-82.
    Theo Vennemann (1973) "Warum gibt es Syntax? Syntaktische Konstruktionsprinzipien in logischer und psychologischer Sicht", Zeitschrift für Germanistische Linguistik 1, 257-283.
    Theo Vennemann (1973) "Explanation in Syntax", in: John Kimball, ed., Syntax and Semantics 2, New York (Seminar Press), 1-50.
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1972)
    "Relative adjectives and comparison", UCLA Papers in Syntax 2, 107-197.
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1972)
    "The grammar of relative adjectives and of comparison", Linguistische Berichte 20, 19-32. [Shortened version of "Relative adjectives and comparison", UCLA Papers in Syntax 2 (1972), 107-197.]
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1975)
    "The grammar of relative adjectives and of comparison", in: Thomas Storer and David Winter, eds., Formal aspects of cognitive processes (Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 22), Berlin (Springer), 168-185. [Same as "The grammar of relative adjectives and of comparison", Linguistische Berichte 20 (1972), 19-32.]
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann
    (1972, 1973)
    Semantic Structures: A study in the relation between semantics and syntax (Athenäum-Skripten Linguistik, 9), Frankfurt am Main (Athenäum).



    Phonology and Morphonology back

    Theo Vennemann (2012) "Structural complexity of consonant clusters: A phonologist's view", in: Philip Hoole, Lasse Bombien, Marianne Pouplier, Christine Mooshammer and Barbara Kühnert (eds.), Consonant clusters and structural complexity (Interface Explorations, 26), Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 11-31.
    Theo Vennemann (2010) "Die Silbe in Akzent und Rhytmus", in: Die Silbe im Anfangsunterricht Deutsch: Festschrift zum zehnjährigen Jubiläum des Lehrgangs ABC der Tiere - Silbenmethode mit Silbentrenner , Offenburg: Mildenberger, 85-106.
    David Restle and Theo Vennemann (2001) "Silbenstruktur", in: Martin Haspelmath, Ekkehard König, Wulf Oesterreicher und Wolfgang Raible, eds., Sprachtypologie und sprachliche Universalien. Ein Internationales Handbuch / Language Typology and Language Universals. An International Handbook, 2 vols. (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science), Berlin (Walter de Gruyter), II. 1310-1336.
    Theo Vennemann (1998) "Prosodie und Wortgewinnung", in: Matthias Butt and Nanna Fuhrhop, eds., Variation und Stabilität in der Wortstruktur: Untersuchungen zu Entwicklung, Erwerb und Varietäten des Deutschen und anderer Sprachen (Germanistische Linguistik 141-142). Hildesheim (Georg Olms), 225-244.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "Universelle Nuklearphonologie mit epiphänomenaler Silbenstruktur", in: Karl Heinz Ramers, Heinz Vater and Henning Wode, eds., Universale phonologische Prozesse und Strukturen (Lingustische Arbeiten, 310), Tübingen (Max Niemeyer), 7-54.
    Theo Vennemann (1991) "Skizze der deutschen Wortprosodie", Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 10, 86-111.
    Theo Vennemann (1991) "Syllable structure and syllable cut prosodies in Modern Standard German", in: Pier Marco Bertinetto, Michael Kenstowicz and Michele Loporcaro, eds., Certamen Phonologicum II: Papers from the 1990 Cortona Phonology Meeting, Torino (Rosenberg & Sellier), 211-243.
    Theo Vennemann (1990) "Syllable structure and simplex accent in Modern Standard German", in: Michael Ziolkowski, Manuela Noske and Karen Deaton, eds., Papers from the Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society 26, vol. II: The Parasession, Chicago (Chicago Linguistic Society), 399-412.
    Theo Vennemann (1988) Preference laws for syllable structure and the explanation of sound change: With special reference to German, Germanic, Italian, and Latin, Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter).
    Theo Vennemann (1988) "The rule dependence of syllable structure", in: Caroline Duncan-Rose and Theo Vennemann, eds., On language: Rhetorica, Phonologica, Syntactica: A Festschrift for Robert P. Stockwell from his friends and colleagues, London (Routledge), 257-283.
    Theo Vennemann (1986) Neuere Entwicklungen in der Phonologie, Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter).
    Theo Vennemann (1986) "Ruckümläut", in: Dieter Kastowsky and Aleksander Szwadesh, eds., Linguistics across historical and geographical boundaries: In honour of Jacek Fisiak on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, vol. I: Linguistic theory and historical linguistics (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 32), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter), 701-723.
    Theo Vennemann (1985) "Preference laws for syllable structure and the explanation of sound change: With special reference to German, Germanic, Italian, and Latin", Phonology Workshop of the Linguistic Society of Korea, ed., Papers in Phonology and Morphology III, Seoul (Pan Korea Corporation), 186-362. [Earlier version of Preference Laws, 1988]
    Theo Vennemann (1982) "Zur Silbenstruktur der deutschen Standardsprache", in: Theo Vennemann, ed., Silben, Segmente, Akzente: Referate zur Wort-, Satz- und Versphonologie anläßlich der vierten Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft, Köln, 2. - 4. März, 1982 (Linguistische Arbeiten, 126), Tübingen (Max Niemeyer), 261-305.
    Theo Vennemann (1982) "Phonology as non-functional non-phonetics", in: Wolfgang Ullrich Dressler et al., eds., Phonologica 1980: Akten der Vierten Internationalen Phonologie-Tagung, Wien, 29. Juni - 2. Juli 1980 (Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft, 36), Innsbruck (Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck), 391-402.
    Theo Vennemann (1980) "Universalphonologie als partielle Sprachtheorie", in: Hans-Heinrich Lieb, ed., Oberflächensyntax und Semantik, Tübingen (Max Niemeyer), 125-133.
    Theo Vennemann (1978) "Universal syllabic phonology", Theoretical Linguistics 5, 175-215.
    Theo Vennemann (1978) "Rule inversion and lexical storage: The case of Sanskrit visarga", in: Jacek Fisiak, ed., Recent Developments in Historical Phonology, Den Haag (Mouton), 391-408.
    Theo Vennemann (1978) "Phonetic analogy and conceptual analogy", in: Philip Baldi and Ronald N. Werth, eds., Readings in Historical Phonology: Chapters in the Theory of Sound Change, University Park (Pennsylvania State University Press), 258-274. [Reprint of "Phonetic analogy and conceptual analogy", 1972.]
    Gerhild Geil
    and Theo Vennemann (1977)
    "über den Gebrauch von Variablen in phonologischen Regeln", in: Gaberell Drachman, ed., Akten der 2. Salzburger Frühlingstagung für Linguistik (Salzburger Beiträge zur Linguistik, 3), Tübingen (Gunter Narr), 179-195.
    Theo Vennemann (1976) "Vowel alternations in English, German and Gothic: Remarks on realism in: phonology", in: Muhammad Ali Jazayery, Edgar C. Polomé, and Werner Winter, eds., Linguistic and Literary Studies in Honor of Archibald A. Hill, vol. I: General and Theoretical Linguistics, Lisse (Peter de Ridder), 337-359.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Words and syllables in natural generative grammar", in: Anthony Bruck, Robert A. Fox, and Michael W. La Galy, eds., Papers from the Parasession on Natural Phonology, April 18, 1974, Chicago (Chicago Linguistic Society), 346-374.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Phonological concreteness in natural generative grammar", in: Roger W. Shuy and Charles-James N. Bailey, eds., Towards Tomorrow's Linguistics, Washington, D.C. (Georgetown University Press), 202-219.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Sanskrit ruki and the concept of a natural class", Linguistics 130, 91-97.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Restructuring", Lingua 33, 137-156.
    Peter Ladefoged
    and Theo Vennemann (1973)
    "Phonetic features and phonological features", Lingua 32, 61-74.
    Theo Vennemann (1973) "Linguistics and phonetics", in: Renate Bartsch and Theo Vennemann, eds., Linguistics and neighboring disciplines (North-Holland Linguistic Series, 14), Amsterdam (North-Holland), 13-32. [Translation of "Linguistik und Phonetik", 1973.]
    Theo Vennemann (1973) "Linguistik und Phonetik", in: Renate Bartsch and Theo Vennemann, eds., Linguistik und Nachbarwissenschaften, Kronberg/Ts. (Scriptor), 21-43.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "Phonetic analogy and conceptual analogy", in: Theo Vennemann and Terence H. Wilbur, eds., Schuchhardt, the Neogrammarians, and the transformational theory of phonological change: Four essays by Hugo Schuchhardt, Theo Vennemann, Terence H. Wilbur (Linguistische Forschungen, 26), Frankfurt am Main (Athenäum), 115-179.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "Hugo Schuchhardt's theory of phonological change", in: Theo Vennemann and Terence H. Wilbur, eds., Schuchhardt, the Neogrammarians, and the transformational theory of phonological change: Four essays by Hugo Schuchhardt, Theo Vennemann, Terence H. Wilbur (Linguistische Forschungen, 26), Frankfurt am Main (Athenäum), 115-179.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "Rule Inversion", Lingua 29, 209-242.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "Phonological uniqueness in natural generative grammar", Glossa 6, 105-116.
    Theo Vennemann (1972) "On the theory of syllabic phonology", Linguistische Berichte 18, 1-18.
    Theo Vennemann
    and Peter Ladefoged (1971)
    "Phonetic features and phonological features", Working Papers in Phonetics (UCLA) 21, 13-24. [Prepublication of "Phonetic features and phonological features", 1973.]
    Theo Vennemann (1971) "The interpretation of phonological features in assimilation rules", Working Papers in Phonetics (UCLA) 19, 62-68. [Preliminary version of "Phonetic detail in assimilation [: [Problems] in Germanic phonology", 1972]
    Theo Vennemann (1971) "Language acquisition and phonological theory", Linguistics 70, 71-89.
    Theo Vennemann (1970) "The German velar nasal: A case for abstract phonology", Phonetica 22, 65-81.
    Theo Vennemann (1968) "Die Affrikaten in der generativen Phonologie des Deutschen", Phonetica 18, 65-76.
    Theo Vennemann (1968) German phonology (Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles), Ann Arbor, Michigan (University Microfilms).



    General Linguistics back

    Theo Vennemann (1999) "Volksetymologie und Ortsnamenforschung: Begriffsbestimmung und Anwendung auf ausgewählte, überwiegend bayerische Toponyme", Beiträge zur Namenforschung, Neue Folge 34, 269-322. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 24, with Abstract.
    Christian Strömsdörfer
    and Theo Vennemann
    (1993, 1995)
    "Das Verhältnis des Sprachwandels zur Theorie der Sprachzustände", in: Joachim Jacobs, Arnim von Stechow, Wolfgang Sternefeld and Theo Vennemann, eds., Syntax: Ein internationales Handbuch zeitgenössischer Forschung / An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, 2 vols. (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science, 9.1-2), Berlin (Walter de Gruyter), II. 1126-1135.
    Theo Vennemann (1992) "Language universals: Endowment or inheritance?", Diachronica 9, 47-60.
    Theo Vennemann (1993) "Language change as language improvement", in: Charles Jones, ed., Historical linguistics: Problems and perspectives. London (Longman), 319-344. [Reprint of "Language change as language improvement", 1990.]
    Theo Vennemann (1990) "Language change as language improvement", in: Vincenzo Orioles, ed., Modelli esplicativi della diacronia linguistica: Atti del Convegno della Società Italiana di Glottologia, Pavia, 15-17 settembre 1988. Pisa (Giardini Editori e Stampatori), 11-35.
    Theo Vennemann (1988) "über Rekonstruktion und Rekonstruktionen in der historischen Sprachwissenschaft: Diskussionsbeitrag", in: Akten der 13. österreichischen Linguistentagung, Graz, 25. - 27. Oktober 1985 (Arbeiten aus der Abteilung "Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft" Graz, 1), Graz (Leykam), 58-62.
    Theo Vennemann (1983) "Causality in language change: Theories of linguistic preferences as a basis for linguistic explanations", Folia Linguistica Historica 6, 5-26.
    Theo Vennemann (1983) "überlegungen zu einer Theorie der linguistischen Präferenzen", Klagenfurter Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 9, 262-292.
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1980)
    "Sprachtheorie", in: Hans Peter Althaus, Helmut Henne and Herbert Ernst Wiegand, eds., Lexikon der Germanistischen Linguistik, Tübingen (Max Niemeyer), 1st ed. 1973, 34-55; 2nd ed. 1980, 57-82.
    Theo Vennemann (1976) "Beiträge der neueren Linguistik zur Sprachgeschichtsschreibung", in: Sprachwandel und Sprachgeschichtsschreibung im Deutschen (Sprache der Gegenwart: Schriften des Instituts für Deutsche Sprache, 41), Düsseldorf (Schwann), 24-42.
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1973)
    "Linguistics", in: Renate Bartsch and Theo Vennemann, eds., Linguistics and neighboring disciplines (North-Holland Linguistic Series, 14), Amsterdam (North-Holland), 1-11. [Translation of "Linguistik", 1973.]
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1973)
    "Linguistik", in: Renate Bartsch and Theo Vennemann, eds., Linguistik und Nachbarwissenschaften, Kronberg/Ts. (Scriptor), 9-20.



    Introductions to General Linguistics back

    Theo Vennemann
    and Joachim Jacobs (1982)
    Sprache und Grammatik: Grundprobleme der linguistischen Sprachbeschreibung (Erträge der Forschung, 176), Darmstadt (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft).
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1983)
    Grundzüge der Sprachtheorie: Eine linguistische Einführung, Tübingen (Max Niemeyer). [Reprint of Grundzüge der Sprachtheorie: Eine linguistische Einführung, 1982]
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann (1982)
    Grundzüge der Sprachtheorie: Eine linguistische Einführung, Tübingen (Max Niemeyer).



    Rhenish Matron names back

    Theo Vennemann (i.E.) Die niederrheinischen Matronennamen: Eine sprachgeschichtliche Betrachtung.
    Theo Vennemann (1995) "Morphologie der Matronennamen", in: Edith Marold and Christiane Zimmermann, eds., Nordwestgermanisch (Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde, Ergänzungsbände, 13), Berlin (Walter de Gruyter), 271-299.
    Theo Vennemann (1995) "Die ubischen Matronae Albiahenae und der gallo-römische Mercurius Cimiacinus: Mit einem Anhang über den Weißenburger Mercurius Pro[i]tium", Beiträge zur Namenforschung, Neue Folge 28, 271-300.
    Theo Vennemann (1994) "-|", Sprachwissenschaft 19, 235-270.



    Runology back

    Theo Vennemann (2013) "The mediae (b d g) in Punic and in the futhark", Sprachwissenschaft 38, 1-30.
    Theo Vennemann (2013) "Vowels in Punic and in Runic", Sprachwissenschaft, 38.2.
    Theo Vennemann (2011) "Griechisch, lateinisch, etruskisch, karthagisch? Zur Herkunft der Runen", in: Elvira Glaser, Anna Seiler und Michelle Waldispühl (eds.), LautSchriftSprache: Beiträge zur vergleichenden Graphematik. Zürich: Chronos, 47-81.
    Theo Vennemann (2010)
    "The source of the Ing rune and of the futhark", Sprachwissenschaft 35, 1-14.
    Theo Vennemann (2009)
    "Zur Reihung der Runen im älteren Futhark", in: Wilhelm Heizmann, Klaus Böldl, and Heinrich Beck (eds.), Analecta Septentrionalia: Beiträge zur nordgermanischen Kultur- und Literaturgeschichte (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 65), Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 834-863.
    Theo Vennemann (2006)
    "Germanische Runen und phönizisches Alphabet", Sprachwissenschaft 34, 367-429.
    Tineke Looijenga
    and Theo Vennemann (1999)
    "The runic inscription of the Gandersheim casket", in: Regine Marth, ed., Das Gandersheimer Runenkästchen: Internationales Kolloquium, Braunschweig, 24.-26. März 1999 (Kolloquiumsbände des Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museums, 1), Braunschweig (Herzog-Anton-Ulrich-Museum), 111-120.
    Theo Vennemann (1999) "Note on the runic inscription of the Bergakker scabbard mount", in: Alfred Bammesberger and Gaby Waxenberger, eds., Pforzen und Bergakker: Neue Untersuchungen zu Runeninschriften (Historische Sprachforschung (Historical Linguistics), supplement 41), (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht), 152-156.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Wer hat das andere Horn gemacht? Zum Numerus von horna in der Gallehus-Inschrift", Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (Tübingen) 111, 355-368.



    Varia back

    Theo Vennemann (2011) "Arabic loanwords in German(ic)", in: Lutz Etzard and RUdolf de Jong (eds.), Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Leiden: Brill, Brill Online, 16 Juli 2011, http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-arabic-language-and-linguistics/arabic-loanwords-in-german-ic-SIM_000010
    Theo Vennemann (2011) "English as a contact language: Typology and comparsion", in: Anglia 129 (2011), 217-257.
    Theo Vennemann (2001) "Zur Etymologie von dt. Balz", in: Sprachwissenschaft 26, 425-431.
    Theo Vennemann (1997) "Zur Etymologie der Sippe von engl. knife, franz. canif, bask. kanibet", in: Kurt Gustav Goblirsch, Martha Berryman Mayou and Marvin Taylor, eds., Germanic studies in honor of Anatoly Liberman (= NOWELE 31/32), Odense (Odense University Press), 439-462. Reprinted in Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica, chapter 13, with Abstract.
    Theo Vennemann (1989) "Gegen wen polemisierte Gottfried von Straßburg? - Des hasen geselle und die vindære wilder mære ('Tristan', vv. 4636-4688)", in: Walter Tauber, ed., Aspekte der Germanistik: Festschrift für Hans-Friedrich Rosenfeld zum 90. Geburtstag (Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik, 521), Göppingen (Kümmerle), 147-172.
    Theo Vennemann (1974) "Ein prädikatenlogisch fundiertes System der deontischen Logik", Papiere zur Linguistik 8, 12-28.
    Theo Vennemann
    and Hans Wagener (1970)
    Die Anredeformen in den Dramen des Andreas Gryphius, München (Wilhelm Fink).



    Editing back

    Alfred Bammesberger
    and Theo Vennemann, eds. (2003)
    Languages in Prehistoric Europe (Indogermanische Bibliothek, Dritte Reihe), Heidelberg (Carl Winter).
    Joachim Jacobs,
    Arnim von Stechow,
    Wolfgang Sternefeld
    and Theo Vennemann, eds.
    (1993, 1995)
    Syntax: Ein internationales Handbuch zeitgenössischer Forschung / An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, 2 vols. (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science, 9.1-2), Berlin (Walter de Gruyter).
    Theo Vennemann, ed. (1989) The new sound of Indo-European: Essays in phonological reconstruction (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 41), Berlin (Mouton de Gruyter).
    Caroline Duncan-Rose
    and Theo Vennemann, eds. (1988)
    On language: Rhetorica, Phonologica, Syntactica: A Festschrift for Robert P. Stockwell from his friends and colleagues, London (Routledge).
    Theo Vennemann, ed. (1982) Silben, Segmente, Akzente: Referate zur Wort-, Satz- und Versphonologie anläßlich der vierten Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft, Köln, 2. - 4. März 1982 (Linguistische Arbeiten, 126), Tübingen (Max Niemeyer).
    Theo Vennemann, ed.
    (since 1982)
    Studien zur Theoretischen Linguistik / Studies in Theoretical Linguistics (Münchner Universitätsschriften), München (Wilhelm Fink), 12 vols.
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann, eds. (1973)
    Linguistics and neighboring disciplines (North-Holland Linguistic Series, 14), Amsterdam (North-Holland). [English edition of Linguistik und Nachbarwissenschaften, 1973.]
    Renate Bartsch
    and Theo Vennemann, eds. (1973)
    Linguistik und Nachbarwissenschaften, Kronberg/Ts. (Scriptor).
    Theo Vennemann
    and Terence H. Wilbur, eds. (1972)
    Schuchhardt, the Neogrammarians, and the transformational theory of phonological change: Four essays by Hugo Schuchhardt, Theo Vennemann, Terence H. Wilbur (Linguistische Forschungen, 26), Frankfurt am Main (Athenäum).



    Selected Abstracts back to index       back to publications
    (From: Theo Vennemann (2003), Europa Vasconica - Europa Semitica (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, 138), Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna, ed., Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.)


    Bemerkung zum frühgermanischen Wortschatz Reference

    Several accounts of the history of the German language contend that about one third of the Proto-Germanic vocabulary has no Indo-European etymology. The categories cited as those in which these words cumulate are:

          1. warfare and weapons (e.g. Waffe 'weapon', Schwert 'sword')
          2. sea and navigation (e.g. See 'sea', Ufer 'bank, shore', Sturm 'tempest, storm')
          3. law (e.g. Sühne 'atonement', stehlen 'to steal', Dieb 'thief')
          4. state and communal life (e.g. Knecht 'servant', Volk 'division, people', Adel 'nobility')
          5. husbandry, house building, settlement (e.g. Rost 'Grill', Fleisch 'meat', Haus 'house')
          6. other expressions of advanced civilization (e.g. Zeit 'time')
          7. names of animals and plants (e.g. Aal 'eel', Möwe 'gull', Bohne 'bean')
          8. expressions from numerous spheres of daily life (e.g. trinken 'to drink', Leder 'leather')

    The accounts suggest that these unexplained words may be owed to prehistoric substrates. By contrast, it is shown in this paper that three of the eight categories of words thus claimed to be prehistoric substratal borrowings, categories 1, 3, and 4, are owed to superstrates rather than to substrates in historical cases of language contact. Indeed it is precisely these three categories where superstratal loan-words are shown to abound in the following cases:

          1. the superstratal Norman-French influence on Middle English,
          2. the superstratal Franconian influence on the Gallo-Roman Latin of Northern France,
          3. the superstratal Arabic influence on Spanish,
          4. the superstratal Lombard and Ostrogoth influence on Northern Italian,
          5. the superstratal Turkish influence on the languages of the Balkans,
          6. the superstratal influence of Low German on Danish and Swedish as a consequence of the commercial dominance of the Hansa.

    The conclusion drawn in this paper is that if the Germanic vocabulary lacking Indo-European etymologies consists of loan-words, then at least the loan-words in categories 1, 3, and 4 were borrowed from superstrates rather than from substrates. The paper concludes with speculations about the prehistoric settings in which such superstratal influence on Pre-Germanic would have been possible. The megalithic monuments of Western Europe are suggested to be the archaeological vestiges of the culture to which those superstratal languages belonged. No concrete proposal is made concerning the languages or language families from which the problematic vocabulary was borrowed, but Basque and Pictish are mentioned as testimony of a once non-Indo-European Western and Northern Europe.



    Die Lautverschiebungen und die Ausbreitung des Indo-Germanischen Reference

    The question of when and where the consonant shifts occurred leads to a speculative reconstruction of the linguistic situation in post-glacial Europe north of the Alps. The last European ice-age ended about ten thousand years ago. Mountains, lakes, rivers and meadows had to be named by the settlers who arrived from the sixth millennium B.C. onward, thus creating the European toponymy, in particular its hydronymy. These first settlers are here identified as Indo-European agriculturalists immigrating from the Carpathian Basin. In the fourth millennium B.C., when the climate deteriorated, much coastal land was lost to the sea, foreign seafarers invaded the Atlantic coastal regions, Europe was militarized, and the great Indo-European migration began. The seafarers left visible traces in Europe: the Megalithic culture. They also influenced the Germanic vocabulary. Many Germanic words do not have cognates in other Indo-European languages, e.g. words containing the plosive of the "labial gap" (PIE +b, PGmc. +p) such as Pfennig/penny, Pflug/plough, and schöpfen/shape. In the first half of the last millennium B.C., Western Europe was re-Indo-Europeanized by the Celts. Their territories were subsequently in part invaded by Germanic tribes from Southern Scandinavia. The southernmost of these tribes, primarily the Thuringians, Alamanni, and Lombards, carried the High Germanic (or Second) consonant shift to what was to become Southern Germany. Following the lead of the historians Karl Bosl and Wolfgang Hartung and the linguist Willi Mayerthaler, the Bavarian ethnogenesis is explained as a fusion of the indigenous Gallo-Roman population with conquering Alamanni in the 6th century A.D. (This theory was fondly named the Sauhaufentheorie by Mayerthaler, i.e the motley-crowd theory, as opposed to the traditional old-tribe theory, i.e. the view that the Bavarians are an ancient tribe like the Saxons and the Lombards.) In a postscript attention is drawn to Colin Renfrew's book just then published, in which a similar theory of the Indo-European origins is developed independently. Aspects of Renfrew's theory that differ from the theory sketched here are criticized. This chapter contains the third part of a long paper presenting the author's theory of the Germanic and German consonant shifts and Verner's Law for a general readership. Only the final sections are here reproduced, those dealing with the re-population of Central and Western Europe after the last ice-age.



    Zur Erklärung bayerischer Gewässer- und Siedlungsnamen Reference

    Whereas in localist approaches, in which every place-name is analyzed without regard to similar-sounding names in the rest of Europe, the etymology of numerous Bavarian toponyms is based on (often unattested) personal names, comparative studies following Hans Krahe's pioneering work have proved that numerous hydronyms in Europe north of the Alps have identical structure and identical roots and endings. It is argued that the concept of Krahe's Old European hydronymy has to be generalized into that of the Old European toponymy, many settlement names indeed deriving from, or being the same as, Krahe's hydronyms. By analyzing the structure of hydronyms and other toponyms, adding a number of examples to the discussion such as Partenkirchen, Chiemsee, Füssen, Epfach, and München, the comparative approach is supported. The etymon bard-/part- of Partenkirchen (old Part(h)ano, from +Partanum) and its river Partnach is seen in many other toponyms all over Europe, e.g. Partenheim, Perticus saltus (la Perche), Partney, the river Parthe, Partington, Bardemara, and Bardenbach, and is connected to a weakly attested Basque word barta/parta meaning 'swamp'. The paper is presented as part of a larger research program attempting to determine the role of Basque in the linguistic development of prehistoric Europe; in particular it suggests that the language of the Old European toponymy was not Indo-European but related to Basque.



    Die mitteleuropäischen Orts- und Matronennamen mit f, , h und die Spätphase der Indogermania Reference

    The fricatives f, , h occur in a number of Central European toponyms, e.g. Füssen, Dingolfing (+ing-), Haßfurt, and in names of the Rhenish matrons of the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., e.g. Matronae Fachineihiae, Matronae Ratheihiae, Matronae Hamavehae, which are for the most part derived from toponyms. This does not agree well with the fact that Central Europe became Germanic in the second half of the first millennium B.C. The problem is that these fricatives cannot stem from the Proto-Germanic consonant shift, which had been completed long before the Germanic tribes entered the Central European region. Had f, , h been plosives in toponyms and matron names when the Germanic tribes arrived they would have been adapted as Germanic plosives, not as fricatives. The fricatives therefore must have existed as part of the names when these were taken over by the Germanic tribes. It is proposed that certain instances of f, , h in toponyms and matron names date back to the third and second millennia B.C., when Palaeo-Italic tribes still lived in Central Europe and applied the Italic consonant shift (PIE +/bh dh gh/ > Palaeo-Italic +/f, þ, h/) to the Old European toponyms. The "Italic" fricatives f, , h of the names fitted well into the Germanic sound system and were adopted as such by the new Germanic settlers. The Appendix presents a sketch of the linguistic prehistory of Europe, including the roles of South-Western Europeans including the Basques, of Hamito-Semitic seafarers, and of Indo-European agriculturalists and, later, military conquerors.



    Der Name der Landeshauptstadt München Reference

    This paper, written for a general audience, discusses the name of Munich, the Bavarian capital. München has had an unquestioned etymology for nearly 500 years. Bavarian children learn at elementary school that the city's name, which is first mentioned a. 1158 in a Latin document as ... apud Munichen '... near Munichen', is derived from Middle High German munich 'monk' (< Græco-Latin monachus, monacus). Munich has a monk in its city-arms, which is believed to corroborate the etymology.
          The article rejects this proposal as a folk-etymology. Many other European settlements, not only in Germany, have the same or similar names based on a root +mun-, e.g. Moigny (France), Monkton (several times in England, e.g. in Devonshire, a. 1244 Muneketon, and in Durham, a. 1104-8 Munecatun), Mugnone (Tuscany), Stazzo Municca (Sardinia); quite a few occur in the Iberian Peninsula (villa Munapa [a. 1057], Munalia, Muniain, etc.) and especially in the Basque Country (Muniota, several instances of Muñeca and Muñecas, Monein [a. 1154 Munins], Munhoa, Mun). It is proposed that München and similar names are based on the Vasconic root mun-, which in Basque means 'shore, bank, elevation'. It is argued that the name of Munich, whose historical nucleus lies on an elevation on the left bank of the Isar river (the Old City Terrace including the Petersbergl), is derived from the mun- root as +Mun-ic-um (built like Tur-ic-um, the Roman name of Zurich), older +Mun-ic-a 'the place on the river terrace'.
          Several other toponyms are discussed in the paper, including the river name Isar and settlement names terminating in -furt 'ford' such as Ochsenfurt, Schweinfurt, Katzenfurt, Frankfurt, Honigfurt, and Götzenfurt. The first constituents of the latter are not interpreted as names of animals (ox, swine, cat), German tribes (the Franks), victuals (honey), and idols, but as prehistoric words with a hydronymic significance.



    Linguistic reconstruction in the context of European prehistory Reference

    The reconstruction of the oldest European river-names north of the Alps results in a reinterpretation of Hans Krahe's Old European hydronymy. While Krahe assumed an Indo-European origin for hydronyms occurring in large parts of Europe, a new analysis of Krahe's system points to a non-Indo-European agglutinating and suffix-prevocalizing source with initial accent and without vowel quantity. The agglutinating and prevocalizing nature of the data is demonstrated by a morphological analysis of the derivational paradigms of Meda/Medama/Medamana and Ala/Alma/Almana as Med-a/Med-am-a/Med-am-an-a and Al-a/Al-m-a/Al-m-an-a (with syncope after the liquid). The initial accent was borrowed as a substratal feature into the three westernmost branches of Indo-European, Celtic, Italic, and Germanic (and also into Etruscan). The lack of vowel quantity is reflected in the occurrence of hydronymic doublets with long and short root vowels in their Indo-Europeanized reflexes, such as +is-/+s- and +ur-/+r-. The often observed predominance of the vowel a adds to the overall non-Indo-European picture.
          While the structure of the Old European hydronyms does not support an Indo-European origin, the structural and substantive similarities between the language of the Old European hydronymy and Basque are striking. Basque is therefore considered a descendant of the Old European language family, which is named Vasconic. It is proposed that after the last ice-age, peoples from southern Europe who spoke Vasconic languages populated western, northern, and large parts of central Europe before the advent of the Indo-Europeans, naming important features of their environment in a uniform way with appellative expressions that were later taken over by successive non-Vasconic intruding populations. Many of these names have persisted until today, forming what is here called the Old European toponymy which includes Krahe's Old European hydronymy.



    Etymologische Beziehungen im Alten Europa Reference

    This paper addresses the question of the languages that may have been spoken in prehistoric Europe north of the Pyrenees and the Alps between the end of the last ice-age and the Indo-Europeanization of most of the Continent. Languages belonging to two families are identified: the Old European languages belonging to the Vasconic family, the only surviving member of which is Basque; and the Atlantic languages belonging to the Hamito-Semitic family of which many members survive in North Africa and the Middle East.
          Substrates primarily affect the structure of their superstrates, less so the lexicon, except for the toponymic sublexicon. Vasconic languages are assumed to have been substrata in the entire area, and it is shown with reference to a number of appellative loan-words and a sizable number of toponyms that the assumption is likely to be true. For the British Isles it has long been known that whatever went before, their languages were Hamito-Semitic at the time when the Celtic languages intruded from the Continent; the substratal influence is seen in the structural transformation of Insular Celtic into a syntactic type resembling that of Hamito-Semitic more than typical Indo-European. Reference is made to two British toponyms that had shortly before been interpreted as Semitic in origin, Uist and The Solent.
          Superstrates primarily affect the lexicon of their substrates, less so their structure. Hamito-Semitic languages are assumed to have been superstrata to very early Germanic, and it is shown with reference to a sizable number of appellative loan-words that the assumption may be true.
          The emphasis in the paper is on the etymologies, each of which is treated in a numbered section of its own. Some of these are traditional, even though they are not normally cited in modern etymological dictionaries; others are here proposed for the first time. As is unavoidable and indeed customary in etymology, all proposals are not of the same stringency. Those made for the following items may be among the more promising ones; the English form is cited where available.
          Old European (Vasconic) loan-words: silver, iron, Gm. Halde 'sloping ground, hillock', hook, callow, adze, Gm. Garbe 'sheaf', Gm. Harn 'urine', shank, Gm. Latte, Laden 'board', to stink.
          Atlantic (Semitic) loan-words: steer, horn, goat, OE eofur 'male pig', crab, earth, harvest, harp, yard/garden, town, seven, moon, to mete 'measure', hate.



    Zur Erklärung des Baiern-Namens Reference

    Taking as a starting point the assumption of a toponymic origin of several population names, the paper suggests a Vasconic etymology for the name of the Bavarian people. There exist two series of name forms, short ones such as Peigira, báioras, Baior from which the German name of the people and the land, Baiern and Bayern, derive, and long ones such as Baibaros, Baiobaros, Bagibarea from which the Latinizing names of the people and the land, Bajuwaren and Bavaria, derive. Following traditional analyses, all these names are brought into connection with the name of the Celtic Boii. On the basis of the short forms a doublet +Boiira/+Boiura is reconstructed. These forms are analyzed as compounds of the structure +Boi+Ir-a/+Boi+Ur-a. On the evidence of attestations such as Boihemum, Boiohaemum, Bainochamai, Bonochamai they are assumed to have been interpreted by the Germanic intruders as +Boiohaima, Germanized +Baiahaima, i.e. +Bai-a+haim-a '(land of) settlements of the Boii', the origin of the name of Bohemia. Since there is no Indo-European noun +ir- or +ur- and no Indo-European explanation for the i/u alternation, it is suggested, recalling earlier evidence for a once-Vasconic central Europe, that +ir- and +ur- are the same as Basque iri, uli, uri 'town', an element occurring in settlement names such as Iluro, Ilici, Iliberi all over the eastern and southern Iberian Peninsula and even north of the Pyrenees. The long forms are suggested to derive from a compound Bai(o)+bar-, paralleling another attested name of the region, Raetobarii, and containing a second element meaning 'man' in various societal functions (e.g. in baron). Finally, for the name of the Boii itself, derivation (with the loss of single intervocalic -n- typical of Basque) from a Vasconic root +bon- 'hill', surviving in a number of Basque reflexes, is suggested on the evidence of the Boii's multiply bestowed settlement name Bononia (Bologna, Boulogne, Penzberg).



    German Eisvogel, Greek halkyn, English alder: A study in Old European Etymology Reference

    The names Gm. Eisvogel "ice-bird" and OE searn "ice-eagle" of the king-fisher (Alcedo atthis ispida) are unexplained: The bird is in most other languages named for its easily observed and indeed conspicuous way of hunting by diving from trees or from a hovering flight, an activity which can not be carried out when the rivers and lakes are frozen. The Germanic name of the bird is explained by means of Basque iz- 'water' and arrano 'eagle' as an Old European metaphor +is+aano "water-eagle", i.e. 'king-fisher'. Gk. halkyn 'kingfisher' is on this model reconstructed as +al-kuwons "water-owl". The same first constituent is shown to occur in Engl. alder, PGmc. +aluz/+aliz (Alnus glutinosa), whose literal meaning is reconstructed as "water-tree". These etymologies are presented as evidence for the contention that Vasconic languages were once more widespread than historical Basque.



    Some West Indo-European words of uncertain origin Reference

    Vasconic etymologies are suggested for the unexplained West Indo-European words reflected in Engl. silver, ice, salamander, Gm. Fliese, Middle Ir. aindir, Gr. Kassándra, Androméda, Atlantic etymologies for those reflected in Engl. fright, star, to wake, to ward, ear. Cultural differences between the early Indo-Europeans, the Vascons, and the Atlantic peoples are indicated by this loan vocabulary. Some names of undomesticated animals, in particular salamander (from Lat. salamandra, Gr. salamándra) are proposed to be indicative of Vasconic substratal influence: Old European +salam(a) + and(e)ra "water-woman"; cp. Bq. andere 'woman', the Old European hydronymic root sal- in river names such as Sala, Salia, Salma, Salmanca, Salona, and Salica, and the regional Bq. urandra (i.e. ur + andra) 'salamander', literally "water-lady". The superstratal influence of the prehistoric Atlantic seafarers manifests itself e.g. in the star word (cf. OHG sterno, Lat. stlla, Gr. hastr, Hitt. haster, etc.) which corresponds, both in form and in aspects of its content, to the Babylonian goddess Itar and the Palestinian goddess Astarte.



    Atlantiker in Nordwesteuropa: Pikten und Vanen Reference

    The Picts of Britannic prehistory and the Vanir of Germanic mythology contribute to the theory of an Atlantic, i.e. Hamito-Semitic origin of the Megalithic culture. The matriliny of both the Picts and the Vanir points neither to an Indo-European nor to a Vasconic source but makes an Atlantic basis plausible. This view is supported (1) by the Pictish name Nehton and its phonological correspondent Neptune, god of the sea and, identified with the Greek Poseidon, according to Plato founder of the Atlantic empires, (2) by the Old Gaelic word maqq 'son', which is otherwise only attested in Germanic, e.g. as Goth. magus 'son (of maternal lineage)', (3) by Pictish art and Northumbrian art which has been apparently influenced by it, both showing stylistic connections with the art of the Near East, and (4) by the tale of Tristan, the Pictish Drust, the Welsh Drystan son of Tallwch, lover of Essylt, the wife of his uncle March son of Meirchiaw, protagonists of a romance featuring an exceedingly non-Indo-European adulteress.
         The Germanic Vanir are recognized not merely as fertility deities but as a fully functional family of gods and goddesses. Their maritime (Mediterranean) and Semitic origin is shown by a number of features, chief among them the following: (1) Njorðr's residence Nóatún 'Ship-Town', (2) Freyr's ship Skíðblaðnir, (3) marriages between sisters and brothers such as Njorðr's earlier marriage, (4) Freyja's and Freyr's incestual relationship (as insinuated by Loki), (5) Freyja's harnessed team of "cats" (i.e. lions), (6) the notion of dying gods (also on the Æsir side, where the most Vanir-like Baldr resembles the Semitic god Baal, both in function and in the form of his name), (7) Freyja's equivalence with the Babylonian goddess Itar and the Palestinian goddess Astarte as a goddess both of war and of love and sexual life, (8) the pig as an attribute both of Freyja and of Freyr. The military conflict and subsequent peace of the Vanir and the Æsir is assumed to echo the historical clash of Atlantic and pre-Germanic North Indo-European populations and cultures and thereby to reflect the Germanic ethnogenesis.



    Der Kastalische Quell, die Gastein und das Rätische: Mit einem Anhang zu Kassandra und Kastianeira Reference

    For the etymologies of (1) the name of the Spanish town of Castalla whose drinking water is supplied by a spring at the foot of a mountain, (2) the name of the Castalia spring in Greece, and (3) the name of the Gastein (now Gasteiner Ache), a river fed by twenty-one radioactive hot springs in the Austrian spa of Gastein (now Badgastein), an Old European root +kast- 'spring, source', specifically 'mountain spring', is proposed. The same root is suggested to be part of the three occurrences of the expression kastri in the Rhætian inscriptions of Steinberg in Tyrol, tentatively interpreted by one investigator as 'god of the spring', a meaning which fits the location of the inscription, a mountain cave with two springs issuing good drinking water in an environment with an otherwise comparatively difficult water supply. The Old European root +kast- has no Indo-European connections. Since Basque lacks initial k-, the closest words are gazte 'young', also 'young boy or girl', azte 'growth' derived from (h)azi- 'to generate, nourish, grow', and (h)aste 'beginning, origin, derivation, descent' from (h)asi 'to begin', of which at least the last is also semantically close to a word meaning 'spring, source'. The recurring esi, the most frequent sequence of the Steinberg inscriptions, identified as possibly meaning 'water', could be an inflected form related to Bq. iz- 'water'. The inscriptions taken together thus give the impression of fragments of an incantation, prayer, or spell addressed to the spring or its deity. In the closing section of the paper, the possibility of a relation between Rhætian and Basque is discussed with reference to syntactic, morphological, phonological, and lexical parallels.



    Zur Etymologie der Sippe von engl. knife, franz. canif, bask. kanibet Reference

    Traditionally, Engl. knife and related Germanic words - Late OE cnf, OFris. and MLG knf; MDu. cnijf (Du. knijf), ON knífr - have been derived from an unattested Germanic verbal root *knb- or, violating the sound laws and disregarding the semantic discrepancy, from the Germanic root *knp- 'to nip, pinch, squeeze'. The word is most commonly assumed to have originated in Old Norse and to have been borrowed from there into Late Old English and the other Germanic languages, then from Old English into Old French as quenif, quanif 'pocket knife'; a diminutive cnivet, canivet formed in Old French is assumed to have traveled on into Provençal, Catalan, and other Romance languages (e.g. OSpan. cañivete 'small knife'), and finally into Basque as gaiñibeta, ganabeta, ganibet, kanibet, etc. '(pocket) knife, penknife' with different forms and meanings in the dialects.
         Ten reasons are given why this assumed itinary is wrong, among them the facts (1) that in the Middle Ages new cultural objects and their names do not travel from north to south but from south to north, (2) that the implied development of a monosyllabic simplex (knfr, knife) into an apparent compound of three or four syllables (gaiñibeta, ganibet), though not impossible, is at least peculiar, (3) that the presumed diminutive suffix -et of OFr. cnivet, canivet is also found in Germanic (West Fris. knyft '(large) pocket knife)', and (4) that the entire set of words is left unexplained because the traditional Germanic etymologies are unacceptable.
         The opposite route is then proposed, starting with a Basque compound, possibly formed of Latin-derived Bq. kana 'reed pipe, cane' and bedoi 'pruning knife' in Gascony, and continuing through the Romance languages including Old French, where a doublet was formed by dropping the apparent diminutive suffix -et, and on into the Continental, Insular, and Scandinavian Germanic languages with different forms and meanings, until it reached its end-point in Norwegian Lappish.



    Basken, Semiten, Indogermanen: Urheimatfragen in linguistischer und anthropologischer Sicht Reference

    The paper attempts to draw a picture of the linguistic prehistory of Europe north of the Pyrenees and the Alps. Languages of three families are assumed: Vasconic, Atlantic (Hamito-Semitic), and Indo-European. The origins of the peoples bringing those languages are discussed on the basis of linguistic, mythological, and genetic evidence.
        It is argued that the Vascons originated in southern France, from where they spread north after the end of the last ice-age. The Vascons gave rise to the Old European hydronymy. Atlantic colonizers from the western Mediterranean and adjacent Atlantic regions occupied the European Atlantic coast, the isles, and the river basins from about 5000 B.C. onward. They were cattle-breeders and experts in orcharding (apples), and brought the Megalithic culture to Europe. The Indo-Europeans originated in the Carpathian Basin. Beginning to spread in the middle of the 6th millennium, they brought agriculture to central, western, north-eastern, and northern Europe, militarizing and spreading in all southerly directions from the 4th millennium onward.
        The linguistic analysis focuses on the stratal asymmetries of the languages involved and on loan-words, toponyms and structural peculiarities reflecting these asymmetries. Among the latter, the Vasconic way of counting by steps of twenty rather than ten is identified in Romance, Celtic, and Germanic, and the Semitic verbal ablaut in the systematization and functionalization of the inherited Indo-European ablaut of Germanic.
        As mythological evidence of Atlantic influence, the several Semitic features often observed in Germanic religion are referred to.
        Genetic evidence is cited which connects the Europeans north of the Pyrenees and the Alps with the Basques and explains the fading of Basque genetic properties from west to east with the intrusion of a different population, presumably the Indo-Europeans, in the opposite direction. More specifically, genetic evidence (blood group zero versus blood group A) shows that in Bavaria the Basque component is stronger south of the Danube than north of it, the river forming a natural barrier against intrusions from the north; the recessive nature of the Basque component shows once more in the fact that south of the Danube it is strongest in Alpine valleys and north of the Danube in mountainous regions, both regions being typical areas of retreat.
        The paper ends with a plea for a stronger consideration of possible external influences in the study of the Western Indo-European languages. In the appendix, two new Semitic etymologies for hoof and for apple are offered.



    Pre-Indo-European toponyms in Central and Western Europe: Bid-/Bed- and Pit- names Reference

    Bid-/Bed- (as in Gm. Bitburg, Engl. Bedford) is frequent in European settlement names. Pit- (as in Pitbladdo, Pitlochry) is even more frequent but is limited to an area of Northern Scotland, the former Pictland. The structures these two name elements enter into are quite different: In Bid-/Bed-X names, Bid-/Bed- is the specifier and X is the head (or generic), in Pit-X names, Pit- is head (generic) and X is specifier. Both name elements lack plausible Indo-European etymologies.
        The geographic and the structural differences suggest that Bid-/Bed- and Pit- have different sources. The Bid-/Bed- names are usually found near, or rather, on old and important roads. Bid-/Bed- is therefore assumed to derive from the same Vasconic etymon as Bq. bide 'road'. The fact that in, and close to, the Basque country settlement names such as Bidache have been so explained lends support to this interpretation.
        Pit- in Pit- names is seen by specialists as a Pictish word meaning 'a parcel of land or farmland' and to have had "some fiscal and administrative meaning, now lost, within the Pictish kingdom". It is here interpreted as an Atlantic loan-word having close relatives in several Hamito-Semitic languages, e.g. Akkad. pittu 'administrative district', while Gael. cuid 'portion', Welsh peth 'thing', Bret. pez 'piece', and Gaul. *petia are explained as loan-words from Pictish, and Vulgar Lat. petia (terrae) 'a parcel (of land)' - whence Fr. pièce and thus Engl. piece - as a loan-word from Gaulish.
        These interpretations fit into the theory that the Old European languages were Vasconic, i.e. related to Basque, and the Atlantic languages were closely related to Semitic.



    Remarks on some British place names Reference

    While certain place-names in the British Isles were undoubtedly coined during the last three thousand years and may therefore, in principle, be traced to the Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman French, and Norse languages spoken there during this span of time, it is equally clear that a great many, perhaps even more names were given in the four or more millennia before the first Indo-Europeans set foot on the Isles. Many of the toponyms, for which no plausible etymologies have been found, plus quite a few of those which were misinterpreted by folk etymology either by the inhabitants or by toponomasts, must therefore be assumed to date from those earlier millennia and therefore to be non-Indo-European. It is argued that those earliest names were given by speakers of Old European and Atlantic languages, where these languages were related to Basque und to Semitic, respectively.
         Ancient names are often integrated into a new language by head renewal, the replacement or addition of a constructional head, where the expression supplied is productive in the language, while the old toponym adopts the grammatical role of specifier to the new head. The position of the new head is indicative of the construction type of the language. The German hydronym Chiemsee, for instance, points to the prespecifying (head-final) Old High German syntactic construction, while the Modern English integration of the name as Lake Chiemsee reflects a postspecifying (head-initial) construction type. As the last example shows, the new head sometimes expresses meaning components of, or even the same meaning as, the original name, albeit in a different language. As an example of this, the settlement name Arundel is discussed at some length. It is interpreted as an original Vasconic name +Arana 'The Valley' (cf. Bq. aran 'valley'), integrated into Anglo-Saxon with a new head -del(l) originally meaning the same thing. The English name is thus equivalent to that of the Val d'Aran valley in the Pyrenees, though expressed in a different construction type.
         Other names interpreted as Vasconic in origin are that of the Thames, viz. +Tam-is-a, cf. Bq. iz- '(body of) water', and certain names formed with Bid-/Bed- (Bq. bide 'road') plus a new head, e.g. Bedford.
         As an example of an Atlantic name, that of the Scilly Islands (ca. 400 Sylinancim, ca. 1120 Sully, 1186 Sullia), "a pre-English name of doubtful etymology", is, in harmony with the older etymology of The Solent between the coast of England and the Isle of Wight, derived from the Semitic root s-l-c- 'rock, cliff', more specifically, with Pliny's Silumnus, Silimnus, from the Semitic plural +s-l-c-m (+Sulcim) 'rocks, cliffs' - a fitting designation for those rocky islands.
         Other Atlantic names discussed are that of the Tay (in Pictland) and that of the Taw (in England), the Pit- names of Pictland, that of the Hebrides (Ptolemy's Aiboûdai) and finally a possible earlier name of the Shetland Islands (Aemodae).



    Zur Frage der vorindogermanischen Substrate in Mittel- und Westeuropa Reference

    This paper, which derives from a lecture given in memory of Johannes Hubschmid at the University of Heidelberg on 18 January 1996 and is here published for the first time, gives an overview of the pre-Indo-European substrates and superstrates in Central, Western, and Northern Europe. Unexplained toponyms all over the area, especially Krahe's Old European hydronymy, suggest that the West Indo-European languages had contact with a widespread non-Indo-European substratum; and numerous ordinary Germanic words lacking plausible Indo-European etymologies suggest that the early Germanic population underwent contact with a regional non-Indo-European superstratum. Both suggestions are founded on general rules of language contact theory.
         The Old European substrate is discussed with reference to Hans Krahe's theory. It is concluded that the structure of his Old European hydronyms is non-Indo-European. The dominant vowel a, the great amount of names starting with vowels, the agglutinative word structure, the predominant termination -a, and initial accent of hydronyms point to another language family, which is identified as Vasconic, of which the only present-day survivor is Basque.
         Traces of substratal Vasconic influence in the West Indo-European languages are the shift to initial word-accent in early Italic, Celtic, and Germanic, the more or less systematic West Indo-European remains of vigesimal counting, and words permitting Vasconic etymologies. Of the latter, reflexes of a Vasconic word for '(young) woman, lady', preserved in Bq. andere, are cited in Celtic, Greek, the Romance languages, and German. Bq. handi 'big' and Lat. grandi- 'big' are both derived from a Vasconic word +grandi- 'big', the Latin word being a prehistoric substratal borrowing. The origin of the Vasconic substratum is discussed at length.
         An Atlantic substrate of the insular Celtic languages related to Semitic was first demonstrated about a century ago and further supported by several authors since then. A recent attempt to question this explanation is shown to run counter to general principles of language contact. Semitic loan-words in West Indo-European, especially in Germanic, are interpreted as traces of Semitic influence, superstratal in the case of Germanic, exerted along the Atlantic littoral rather than in the East. The West Indo-European apple word and the Romance and Germanic baron word are given special attention.
         The extraordinary systematization and functionalization of the inherited Indo-European verbal ablaut in Germanic is explained as Semitic influence, ablaut being even more strongly developed in the Semitic languages. This explanation fits well with the old observation that a striking number of Germanic strong verbs have no Indo-European etymology, among them nearly two dozen simplex verbs that contain the consonant +p of the so-called "labial gap" and are therefore certain to be loan-words.



    Andromeda and the Apples of the Hesperides Reference

    The paper begins with an introduction in which the theory of the languages of prehistoric Europe north of the major mountain ranges, the Pyrenees and the Alps, is sketched: the Old European languages identified as Vasconic, i.e. as related to Basque; the Atlantic languages identified as Semitidic, i.e. as Hamito-Semitic but most closely related to Semitic; and Indo-European. The patchwork theory according to which "the [invading] Indo-Europeans found ... a patchwork of languages, large and small, some related, some not, resulting from previous millennia of settlement, displacement and language shift, just like anywhere else" is criticized.
         The first major part, after summarizing some of the traces of the assumed Vasconic substratum in the West Indo-European languages, viz. the shift to initial word-accent and the vigesimal system, concentrates on reflexes of a Vasconic word for '(young) woman, lady', preserved as Bq. andere, in several Indo-European languages. It pays much attention to the female name Andriosoi in a Greek vase painting, which is derived from PVasc. +andere+oo- and interpreted with Bq. oso 'whole, entire' as "whole/entire (young) woman", i.e. 'virgin'. This interpretation is supported with the female name Anderexo/Anderexso in Aquitanian inscriptions, which receives a new analysis as an Aquitanian noun-adjective compound +andere+oo "(young) woman entire", i.e. 'virgin', on the analogy of Bq. neska+oso -> neskaso "girl entire", i.e. 'virgin'. The Greek name Androméda of the daughter of Cepheus, king of the Æthiops, is similarly interpreted by means of a Vasconic adjectival root +med- 'whole, entire' assumed to survive as a borrowing in Lat. medr "to make whole", i.e. 'to heal', and to be reflected in Bq. bete 'one, filled, complete', which is related to Bq. bat (from +bade) 'one' and to bedera 'same, everyone', bederatzi 'nine' (supposed to be "one off ten") - Basque often confuses initial m- and b-.
         After reviewing some Indo-European words that have been given Semitic etymologies, the second major part of the paper concentrates on the new Semitic etymology of the West Indo-European apple word, assumed to be the same as Hamito-Semit. +abol, Semit. +abal- 'genitals' whose original meaning is reconstructed as 'apple'. The semantic development from 'apple' to 'genitals' is compared to numerous similar changes in other languages. The fact that the word does not occur in the old Semitic literary languages Hebrew, Arabic, and Akkadian is explained as a consequence of this awkward metaphoric shift. The same fact is used to explain why this straightforward etymology has remained undiscovered for so long. The etymology is strengthened indirectly by pointing out further Semitic influences in the European northwest: the extraordinary systematization and functionalization of the inherited Indo-European verbal ablaut in Germanic, ablaut being the typological hallmark of the Semitic languages; and the traditionally observed Mediterranean features of Germanic mythology.
         Finally, the extraordinary importance of apples in Western civilization is underlined by analysing four mythical settings as having the same Semitic basis: the Garden of Eden as described in the Old Testament (and similar traditions in the Near East); the Garden of the Hesperides where a serpent keeps watch over the golden apples; the Celtic Avalon, viz. Insula Avallonis or Insula Pomorum, 'Island of Apple Trees', where the wounded King Arthur was taken care of by nine women versed in magic; and the Germanic orchard of Glæsisvellir with the beautiful daughter of King Guðmundr and her sisters, complemented by the myth of the apples of the goddess Iðunn which preserve the health and even the eternal youth of the Germanic gods.



    Germania Semitica: +plg-/+pleg-, +furh-/+farh-, +folk-/+flokk-, +felh-/+folg- Reference

    The paper begins with a characterization of the contact-theoretical concepts of substrate and superstrate and of the typical effects substrates and superstrates exert on their contact languages: Substrates mostly influence the structure of their contact languages (notably in the domains of phonology and syntax), while superstrates mostly influence the lexicon of their contact languages (notably in the fields of warfare, law, and communal life). English is cited as an example: The Insular Celtic substratum structurally transformed Anglo-Saxon more to resemble Insular Celtic in a number of ways, and the Norman-French superstrate transformed the Germanic Anglo-Saxon lexicon into that of Romanized English. By contrast, lexical Celtic influences and structural Norman-French influences are inconspicuous. Turning to the Vasconic substrate of all western Indo-European languages and to the Semitidic superstrate of Germanic assumed in earlier work, the consequence is that there should not be many Vasconic loan-words in Germanic but a considerable number of Semitic loan-words.
         The latter consequence is illustrated in the bulk of the paper with a number of new Semitic etymologies for Germanic words lacking plausible Indo-European connections. The following examples are discussed: West and North Gmc. +plg- 'plough'; the West Germanic strong verb +pleg- 'to have the care of, to cultivate'; West and North Gmc. +furh- 'furrow'; West Gmc. +farh- 'pig'; West and North Gmc. +folk- '(aggregation of) people', originally 'division of an army'; OE and ON +flokk-; the Proto-Germanic strong verb +felh- 'to conceal, to bury'; and West and North Gmc. +folg- 'to follow'.
         It is proposed that all these go back to a Semitic root family plC (and the related prC - C: a range of different consonants) with its basic meaning 'to divide'. In particular, the root form pl means 'to furrow, to divide' in Hebrew, and fl 'to plough' in Arabic (with regular +p > f), cf. Arab. fell 'husbandman', whence Engl. fellah, pl. fellahin 'peasant in Arabic-speaking countries, especially Egypt'; and Hebr. plgh means 'division, district (as division of a tribe)', Assyr. puluggu, pulungu means 'district'.
         At least one third, perhaps more than half of the Germanic vocabulary has no reliable etymology. Since influences from two language families, Vasconic and Semitic, have been identified, it is concluded that the debate can no longer be whether but has to be how exactly and in what measure Germanic and the other West Indo-European languages have been influenced by prehistoric non-Indo-European contact languages.



    Etymology and phonotactics: Latin grandis vs. Basque handi 'big' and similar problems Reference

    It is often overlooked in etymology that the observed constraints of a language have a prehistory and need not always have been the same. As a matter of fact, it can be learned from languages with a long known history that constraints may develop within a few centuries. Therefore, the constraints against word-initial consonant clusters, against word-initial r-, against word-initial d-, and against w observable in historical Basque must not be assumed to have always existed in the language. On the contrary, etymologists must work with the assumption of prehistoric stages of Basque in which these constraints were not yet operative.
         The consequent research strategy leads to a number of new Vasconic etymologies for hitherto poorly explained words in the western Indo-European languages (in a wider sense, including Greek). E.g., Lat. grandi- 'big' obviously cannot be derived from Bq. (h)andi 'big', nor can Bq. (h)andi reflect as a loan-word Lat. grandi- because as such the Basque word would have to have the shape *garandi (with echo anaptyxis), according to the rules of loan-word adaptation in Basque. However, both Lat. grandi- and Bq. (h)andi may reflect a Vasconic etymon, the former as a prehistoric loan-word, the latter as a result of the developing constraints: PVasc. +grandi- -> Lat. grandi- (grandis, grande etc.); PVasc. +grandi- > Pre-Bq. +randi- (no #CC-!) > Bq. handi, andi (no #r-!). Likewise, Gr. dorkás 'deer, gazelle' and Bq. orkatz 'deer, Pyrenean chamois' may both reflect the same Proto-Vasconic etymon, the latter with loss of word-initial d- as this constraint developed.
         Words connected in this way are: OIr. fás (Lat. vstus, vnus, Pre-West Gmc. +wsti-), Bq. baso 'waste (adj.)' (no w! in Basque); Engl. rye (etc.) and Bq. ogi 'bread, wheat, cereal' (no #r-! in Basque); Engl. gate (etc.), Bq. ate 'door' (frequent loss of word-initial velar plosives in Basque); OE sceanca 'thigh', Bq. zango, zanko 'leg, foot' (no #CC-! in Basque); and a few others.



    Germania Semitica: Biene und Imme: Mit einem Anhang zu lat. apis Reference

    The bee words (root +bi- or *bhi- with various suffixes) only occur in the north-west Indo-European languages (Germanic, Balto-Slavic, Celtic), the Imme word (NHG Imme 'bee'), OHG imbi, OE ymbe '[swarm of] bees' only in the West Germanic languages. They are thus likely to be loan-words. Since the domestication of the honey-bee was first achieved in Ancient Egypt and since there are other indications of a prehistoric colonization of the European Atlantic littoral by Hamito-Semitic peoples, the bee words are explained by means of borrowed Egypt. bj-t 'honey-bee' (also 'honey') and the Imme word as a compound +HVm+bi- (> imbi-) of Semit. +HVm- 'people' and the bee root +bi-. The appendix offers an etymology of Lat. api-s 'bee' as borrowed Egypt. cfj 'bee' (cfj n bjt 'honey-bee').



    Zur Etymologie von Éire, dem Namen Irlands Reference

    Earlier interpretations of the name Éire (OIr. Ériu, older +werij), all of them Indo-European, have not yielded plausible significations. Following an attested pattern (Ibiza from +y-bm 'Isle of pines' or 'of balsam', with +y 'island'), a Semitic etymology is proposed in this article, viz. +y-wr(m) (perhaps vocalized as +iy-werium) 'Isle of copper', cf. Akkad. werium 'copper'. In fact, Ireland's industrial copper mining for exportation dates back as far as the 2nd millennium B.C., making 'Copper Island' a fitting designation. This interpretation is in harmony with a traditional explanation of the name Britain as 'Tin Islands'. Together the reconstructed names underline the economic importance of the British Isles in the Bronze Age.



    Zur Etymologie von Senne: Mit einem Anhang zur Etymologie von lat. cseus 'Käse' Reference

    For a word in a contemporary language to qualify as a possible loan-word from the extinct Rhætian language it must ideally satisfy the following three conditions: (1) regionality, i.e. the word must be limited to the area of the old Alpine Rhætia; (2) cultural specificity, i.e. the word must relate to the culture of the old Rhætia; (3) lack of etymology, i.e. the word must lack a plausible etymology in those Indo-European languages that supplanted Rhætian. For such a word to be able to support the hypothesis that Rhætian, for which no filiation has been reliably determined, is a Vasconic language, it would have to satisfy a further condition, (4) Vasconicity, i.e. the word must be interpretable as a loan-word from a language related to Basque.
         It is shown in the paper that the Alpine German word Senne 'Alpine cow-keeper' fulfills all four conditions, so that Senne is likely to be a Rhætian loan-word and ultimately a Vasconic word. Its Vasconicity is demonstrated by basing it, as an agent noun, on a reconstructable Vasconic word +seNe 'milk' preserved in Bq. ezne, High Navarrese dialect esene 'milk', Bq. zenbera 'pot cheese' (formed with Bq. bera 'soft'). This etymology remains unaffected if Rhætian is itself filiated differently; Senne would in this case be a substratal Vasconic word passed through Rhætian into Alpine German.
         The appendix offers a Vasconic etymology for Lat. cseus 'cheese' which has no plausible Indo-European connection. Its original meaning is determined as 'the salty (one)'. Bq. gazi (alongside gazdun, also gaztun) 'salty' is an old adjectival formation based on Bq. gatz 'salt'. It is proposed that Lat. cseus is a prehistoric substratal loan-word representing an adaptation of Vasc. +gazi- 'the salty (one)' to Latin word structure. The fact that the Basque words for 'cheese', gazta, gazna, and gaztai, compound form gaztan-, are likewise based on the 'salt' word supports the loan etymology.



    Volksetymologie und Ortsnamenforschung: Begriffsbestimmung und Anwendung auf ausgewählte, überwiegend bayerische Toponyme Reference

    Various concepts of folk-etymology are analyzed and criticized. A proposal is made which leaves the designation Volksetymologie, coined by J. A. Schmeller and introduced as a scientific term by E. Förstemann, untouched but distinguishes two kinds: folk-etymology as language acquisition, viz. as erroneous word association in the ordinary subconscious process of language learning, and folk-etymology as naive mistaken etymology, etymology understood as the conscious word explanation practised by laymen and scholars. Interpretations of selected toponyms, mostly from Bavaria, are investigated in the light of this critique, among them names such as Bad Kissingen, Füssen, Kühbach, Eisbach, Auerberg, Sigmaringen, Germering, Bamberg, Arnstein, and Ebersberg. Analyses and new proposals are submitted in an examination of the extent to which a non-folk-etymological interpretation of place-names is possible.



    Testing the West: Hesperia, Euskal Herria, Europe, Abendland and supporting etymologies Reference

    Several Indo-European words for the concepts of evening and west display striking phonological differences: Gk. hésperos, Lat. vesper 'evening', OIr. fescor 'evening', Cymr. ucher, MCymr. gosper, gosber 'evening', Lith. vãkaras 'evening', pl. vakara 'west', Latv. vakars 'evening', OCS veer 'evening', Arm. gier 'evening', ON vestr 'west', OHG OE OS westan '(from the) west', etc. These forms cannot be subsumed under a single etymon, which indicates a loan complex.
         If a single source is to be reconstructed for this multitude of loan forms, something resembling +weskwer- or +weskwar- may be the best candidate. It is suggested in the paper that this source is the same as euskera/euskara, the Basques' name for themselves, their land, and their language, and that this term was understood by the West Indo-Europeans as the word for the people, the land and the language of the West, i.e. the Occident or (in German) Abendland. For the Greek name of Europe, Eurp, the traditional derivation from a wide-spread Semitic word for 'evening', Hebr. crb 'evening' (vocalized cereb), Akkad. erbu(m) '(sun-)set', etc., is accepted, the source also of Gk. érebos, Goth. riqis 'evening'.
         The following additional etymologies are proposed as the paper develops: a Vasconic etymology for PGmc. +wahsa- (OE weax, Engl. wax, Gm. Wachs, etc.), Lith. kas, OCS vosku‡: Bq. ezko; a Semitic etymology for PGmc. +hrabna- 'raven' (OE hræfn, Engl. raven, Gm. Rabe, etc.), possibly Gk. kórax, Lat. corax, corvus 'raven': Sem. +urab- 'raven, crow' in Arab. urb- 'raven'; Gm. Amsel, OHG amsla, Engl. ouzel, ousel, OE sle, Lat. merula, Cymr. mwyalch, etc. 'blackbird, thrush': Hebr. zmr 'singer' as in qykly mzmr 'thrush'; OE æfan, Engl. eve, evening, OHG band, Gm. Abend: Semit. +awn- 'time, moment, season' as in Arab. awn-, cf. +awVn- 'evening' in distantly related (Cushitic) Werizoid.



    Grundfragen der Ortsnamenforschung, dargestellt an den Beispielen Ebersberg und Yssingeaux sowie weiteren bayerischen und europäischen örtlichkeitsnamen Reference

    The oldest European toponyms were coined by prehistoric European peoples. The name of the German town of Ebersberg is assumed to contain such an old toponym (plus Gm. Berg 'mountain'). Traditional interpretations of Ebersberg as 'boar mountain' or 'Eberhard's mountain' are rejected as folk etymologies. Instead, a recent proposal relating the name of the town to that of its river, the Ebrach, is accepted. On the assumption that the prehistoric river name was +Ebara, and the settlement was named after this river, the German names are reconstructed as Germanizations by means of OHG aha 'stream' and OHG berg 'mountain', respectively: +Ebara + -aha-> +Ebaraha (attested: Eparaha) > Ebrach; +Ebara + -es-berg -> +Ebaresberg (attested: Eparesberg) > Ebersberg.
         While the numerous German river and settlement names containing Eber- are traditionally interpreted as containing the noun Eber 'boar', a variety of different interpretations have been given for similar French toponyms such as Averdon (older Everdunum), Avrolles (Eburobriga, Evrola), Évricourt (Ebraldocurte), Évry (Evriacum), Ivry-la-Bataille (castrum Ibreicense, Ebrense), Ibarolle (Yvarola), for the obvious reason that 'boar' in French is nothing similar to Eber but sanglier. For the name of the Ibar river of the Kossovo not even a folk etymology is available.
         On the basis of the theory of a prehistoric Vasconic substrate in Central Europe, a Vasconic etymon +Ibara is proposed as underlying all these names (cf. Bq. ibara 'valley, estuary'), a variant of Bq. ibai 'river'. The distribution of this root as well as that of other Vasconic roots (in Ar(e)n-, Is/Eis-, Ur/Aur- names), all outreaching today's Basque region, is assumed to correspond to the large area of a prehistoric Vasconic expansion: After the last ice-age, the Vascons spread from southern France to almost all of Europe north of the Alps, where they were subsequently submerged by Indo-Europeans immigrating from the south-east of the continent. This linguistic reconstruction of European prehistory coincides with results of genetic research, such as the differential distribution of the negative rhesus factor (Rh-) and of the '0' blood group in western, central, and northern Europe.



    Water all over the place: The Old European toponyms and their Vasconic origin: With notes on the names of Cannes and Le Suquet Reference

    The paper begins with a critical appraisal of Hans Krahe's theory of the Old European hydronymy. Krahe's comparative methodology is accepted, his semantic rule that the more frequent a hydronymical root the more general is its meaning, is embraced and applied to all toponyms. But his contention that the Old European hydronymy is Indo-European is challenged with a list of arguments which together favor a Vasconic interpretation.
         By way of exemplification the Vasconic hydronymical roots is- and ur- meaning '(body of) water' are studied both in river names as well as other toponyms known often to encapsulate hydronymical elements. In particular, the names of the French city of Yssingeaux and of the Bavarian village of Eisolzried are analyzed as containing is- as well as another Vasconic toponymical element +alde 'slope', fitting the locations. Bq. -alde may also occur as a termination of river names, as in Rio Izalde south of Bilbao. The same termination is recognized in the German river-names Nagold, Singold, and Onolzbach (< Onoltespah < +An-alde plus Germanizing -es-bach), and in the French toponym Évricourt < Ebraldocurte < +Ibar-alde (Romanized with -o-cortem), cf. Bq. ibar 'valley, [mouth of a] river'. The hydronymic ur- is seen in Germany in river-names and settlement names such as Ur-ach and Aur-ach (Germanized with -ach 'river') and in Auerberg 'water mountain', name of a mountain characterized by an abundance of water. The toponymical Vasc. aran 'valley' (cf. Bq. aran 'valley') is used to show that "nationalizing" additions to an old name often express the same meaning, here 'valley': Val d'Aran in the Pyrenees, Arundel in England, Arendal in Norway, Ahrntal in Tyrol, Arntal in Germany (several).
         Two new etymologies are discussed in greater detail: (1) The toponymical root kan- of the names of several settlements characterized by mountains, such as French Cannes, Le Cannet-du-Luc, Cannet, Chanousse, and Italian Canossa, is explained by means of Bq. gain, gan, gañ 'height, summit'. (2) The toponymical root suk- of Le Suquet, name of the hill at the foot of which Cannes is located, of Les Sucs, name of the hills around Yssingeaux, and of several settlement names is connected with the root of the name of the Basque village of Succos and with Prov. suc 'head', making Succos a parallel of the better known Bizkarosse (with Bq. bizkar 'hillock') and of the above-mentioned Chanousse/Canossa, Bq. -oz being a frequent place-name termination.
         European relics of the Vasconic way of counting in twenties as well as certain findings of anthropological genetics are referred to in support of these Vasconic reconstructions of river and settlement names.



    Last update: 24.07.2008