Thanks Beith. I may actually get this book. It was recommended that it be bought together with Strachen's Paradigms.
While following related links on Amazon (I am iced in today, everything is closed everywhere as SE Missouri is one big sheet of ice, so...), I ran across some fascinating linguistic sources:
How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo-European Poetics by Calvert Watkins ISBN: 0195144139
In How to Kill a Dragon Calvert Watkins follows the continuum of poetic formulae in Indo-European languages, from Old Hittite to medieval Irish. He uses the comparative method to reconstruct traditional poetic formulae of considerable complexity that stretch as far back as the original common language. Thus, Watkins reveals the antiquity and tenacity of the Indo-European poetic tradition. Watkins begins this study with an introduction to the field of comparative Indo-European poetics; he explores the Saussurian notions of synchrony and diachrony, and locates the various Indo-European traditions and ideologies of the spoken word. Further, his overview presents case studies on the forms of verbal art, with selected texts drawn from Indic, Iranian, Greek, Latin, Hittite, Armenian, Celtic, and Germanic languages. In the remainder of the book, Watkins examines in detail the structure of the dragon/serpent-slaying myths, which recur in various guises throughout the Indo-European poetic tradition. He finds the "signature" formula for the myth--the divine hero who slays the serpent or overcomes adversaries--occurs in the same linguistic form in a wide range of sources and over millennia, including Old and Middle Iranian holy books, Greek epic, Celtic and Germanic sagas, down to Armenian oral folk epic of the last century. Watkins argues that this formula is the vehicle for the central theme of a proto-text, and a central part of the symbolic culture of speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language: the relation of humans to their universe, the values and expectations of their society. Therefore, he further argues, poetry was a social necessity for Indo- European society, where the poet could confer on patrons what they and their culture valued above all else: "imperishable fame."
Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics) by James Clackson
Book Description
The Indo-European language family consists of many of the modern and ancient languages of Europe, India and Central Asia, including Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, German, French, Spanish and English. Spoken by an estimated three billion people, it has the largest number of native speakers in the world today. This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of the Indo-European languages. It clearly sets out the methods for relating the languages to one another, presents an engaging discussion of the current debates and controversies concerning their classification, and offers sample problems and suggestions for how to solve them. Complete with a comprehensive glossary, almost 100 tables in which language data and examples are clearly laid out, suggestions for further reading, discussion points, and a range of exercises, this text will be an essential toolkit for all those studying historical linguistics, language typology and the Indo-European languages for the first time.
About the Author
James Clackson is senior lecturer in the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, and is Fellow and Director of Studies, Jesus College, University of Cambridge.
Italo-Celtic Origins and Prehistoric Development of the Irish Language (Leiden Studies in Indo-European 14) (Leiden Studies in Indo-European) (Hardcover) by Frederik Kortlandt (Author) This is post-doc level material.
And the remarkable
An Atlas for Celtic Studies: Archaeology and Names in Ancient Europe and Early Medieval Britain and Brittany (Celtic Studies Publications) (Celtic Studies Publications) (Hardcover) Pricy at £50, US$100, but a fabulous resource.
by John T. Koch (Author), Raimund Karl (Contributor), Antone Minard (Contributor), Simon O'faolain (Contributor)
