Phonological and Morphological Archaisms of the Latin Lexicon

Despite having been studied as thoroughly as any language in history, Latin still remains refractory on many points of both phonology and inflectional (and even more so derivational) morphology.

The present project will deal with some of these problems. An especially challenging case is that of 3rd and 5th declension nouns in -(i)ēs, which turns out to hold the key to a number of fundamental phonological issues, including

  1. Lachmann's Law
  2. the rēgula-rule
  3. the development of the entire system of Latin declensions developed from the original Proto-Indo-European system

Providing new etymological analyses of the entire inventory of Latin nouns in -ēs, this study will elaborate on and critically review Holger Pedersen’s seminal La cinquième déclinaison latine (Copenhagen 1926).

Scholar in charge

Benedicte Nielsen