Slavic indefiniteness markers

[curt fredric woolhiser]

Dear SEELANGers,

I have a question for those of you working on comparative Slavic and
Indo-European linguistics. I had always assumed that the Slavic
indefiniteness markers in -si, -s', etc. (Czech kdosi, Slovak ktosi, Polish
ktos', Ukrainian xtos', Belarusian xtos'-ci) were derived from an
encliticized form of the Common Slavic demonstrative form *sb(jb) (b =
front jer). Martin Haspelmath, in his recent book "Indefinite Pronouns"
(Oxford, 1997), argues that on typological grounds it is likely that these
Slavic indefiniteness markers come from a Proto-Slavic subjunctive form of
the verb "to be" (cf. French soit, as in qui que ce soit, "anyone"), e.g.
Czech kdosi < Proto-Slavic *kuto sit. Haspelmath notes, "This
etymology...is rather speculative, though very attractive because it fits
so well into the general pattern. In this case, the etymology cannot serve
as evidence for the typology; on the contrary, the typology supports the
etymology." (p. 136, fn. 5).
        Although the Indo-European subjunctive mood was presumably replaced
by the conditional in Proto-Slavic, Haspelmath's reconstruction would be
still be valid if *sit is considered a fossilized survival from an earlier,
pre-Slavic stage. However, if we disregard typological considerations for
the moment and look simply at the comparative evidence for the
Indo-European subjunctive, together with what we know about Proto-Slavic
phonology and morphology, would this support or refute Haspelmath's
reconstruction? In other words, is *sit even a possible Proto-Slavic reflex
of the Indo-European subjunctive form of the verb "to be"? Is anyone aware
of any literature on this or other putative relics of the Indo-European
subjunctive in Proto-Slavic?
        Thanks in advance for your responses!

Curt Woolhiser

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Curt F. Woolhiser
Dept. of Slavic Languages
and Literatures
Calhoun 415
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78713-7217 USA

Tel. (512) 471-3607
Fax: (512) 471-6710
Email: cfwoolhiser at mail.utexas.edu
Slavic Department Home Page:
http://www.dla.utexas.edu/depts/slavic/
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