More on ablaut patterns in the ḫi-conjugation

Abstract

Evidence from Palaic shows that contrary to some claims Hittite nasal presents such as šunna- and tarna- do not reflect original PIE ḫi- inflection. This paper presents a new account of how they come to inflect as ḫi- verbs in attested Hittite. It also shows that the so-called class of “ḫi- verbs in -i-” reflects in part presents with a suffix *-ói/-i- (Kloekhorst 2006 & 2008), but in part modified acrostatic presents with *o/zero root ablaut. The lexicalized participle LÚ pitteant- ‘fugitive’ preserves a trace of the original acrostatic paradigm with *o/e root ablaut. Reasons are also given for why this class appears in Nuclear Indo-European as *ye/o- presents with either *e- or zero-grade of the root.