Problem:IOL/2009/i4/en(B)

IOL 2009 Problem #4 Old Indic

Given are Old Indic word stems which are thought to preserve the most ancient (Indo-European) position of the stress. They are divided into root and suffix by a hyphen. The stressed vowel bears the mark ̺́ .

vṛ́k-a- wolf vadh-á- deadly weapon sād-á- sitting on horseback puṣ-ṭí- prosperity sik-tí- effusion pī-tí- drinking, draught gá-ti- walk

vádh-ri- castrated dhū-má- smoke dṛ́-ti- leather bag ghṛ́-ṇi- heat ghṛ-ṇá- heat kā́-ma- desire

pū́r-va- first bhṛ́m-i- mobile kṛṣ-í- tillage stó-ma- hymn dar-má- demolisher nag-ná- naked vák-va- rolling

(a) Explain why it is not possible to use these data to determine the placement of the stress of the following stems: bhāg-a- ‘share’, pad-a- ‘step’, pat-i- ‘lord’, us-ri- ‘morning light’.

(b) Indicate the stress of he word stems given below:

mṛdh-ra-	foe	tan-ti-	cord	svap-na	sleep	abh-ra-	cloud
phe-na-	foam	bhār-a-	burden	bhū-mi-	earth,soil	ghan-a-	killing
stu-ti-	praise	dū-ta-	messenger	ghar-ma-	heat	ghṛṣ-vi-	exuberant

⚠ h indicates that the preceding consonant is aspirated (pronounced with a puff of air); ṇ, ṣ and ṭ ≈ n, sh and t in barn, marsh and art, uttered with the tip of the tongue turned back; ṛ is a vowel similar to the middle sound in American English bird. The mark ̺̄ denotes vowel length.

—Alexander Piperski