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Grammar

6 Sandhi

As with most languages, Tocharian sounds at the moment of utterance are subject to rules of euphonic combination, also known by the Sanskrit term sandhi. The idea is simply that a given sound may change in any given utterance according to the particular phonetic environment in which it occurs. During the pronunciation of a given sound, the mouth may already be preparing itself for the following sound, and hence may change the sound under consideration; or the mouth may still be at the point of articulation of the previous sound, and this may affect the sound under consideration. This process commonly occurs in English, for example when the final voiced labio-dental fricative [v] of have [hæv] becomes the unvoiced counterpart [f] in the phrase I have to go -- more phonetically, I hafta go. This is a result of the mouth already preparing to say the following unvoiced t while still pronouncing the last consonant of have -- the [v] is devoiced to [f] as a result of this anticipation.

Such changes are generally very regular within a particular language. Sanskrit is perhaps the pinnacle of this, where the changes appear to have been grammaticalized after a time (certain rules of sandhi were less regular in the Vedic period than in the Classical period). While the Tocharian system is not nearly as ornate as the system of Classical Sanskrit, it does obey certain regularities of its own. These are frequently applied in the context of poetry where the number of syllables is essential to the meter. Outside of the poetic context, such euphonic combination is less frequently applied.

Generally the final vowels i, e, u, o are changed to their nearest equivalent semivowel before a following vowel. The syllabic resonants, that is the liquids and nasals reinforced by the epenthetic vowel ä -- är, äl, än -- become their fully consonantal equivalents.

Semivowel Examples		Before Sandhi		After Sandhi
-i > -y		A ñi anapär		ñy anapär
-e > -y		A sne āñu		sny āñu
-u > -w		B su eru		sw eru
-o > -w		B po akālkänta		pw akālkänta
-är > -r		A āṣtär akmalṣi		āṣtr akmalṣi
-äl > -l		B eṅkäl aknātsaññe		eṅkl aknātsaññe
-än > -n		A poñcäṃ ārkiśoṣṣis		poñcn ārkiśoṣṣis

Some of the rules, however, do not apply equally or in all instances in both languages. For example, the change -e > -y is rare in Tocharian B, the -e generally contracting with the following vowel in this language. The change -o > -w is often accompanied by the change a- > ā- in Tocharian B: nano alyek > nanw ālyek.

Two vowels of the same basic type generally contract to the respective simple vowel.

Like-Vowel Examples		Before Sandhi		After Sandhi
a + a > a, ā		B āsta arkwina		āst=arkwina
a + ā > ā		A śla āñcālyi		śl=āñcālyi
ā + a, ā > ā		A mā appärmāt		mā=pärmāt
i + i > i		A āñmaṣi ime		āñmaṣ=ime
e + e > e		B te epiṅkte		t=epiṅkte
o + o > o		A wiyo oki		wiy=oki

When the following vowel is dissimilar from the preceding vowel, the preceding vowel generally disappears if it does not become a semivowel according to the previous discussion. A notable exception to this is o, which has various differing results when it does not change to the semivowel -w. These results are summarized in the following table.

Unlike-Vowel Examples		Before Sandhi		After Sandhi
a + i > i, a		B warsa ite		wars=ite
a + e > a, e		B -mpa eṣe		-mp=eṣe
a + o > o		A śla oko		śl=oko
a + ai > ai		B tarya aiśamñenta		tary=aiśamñenta
a + au > au		B emprenma aurtsesa		emprenm=aurtsesa
ā + e > ā		B mā eṅsate		mā=ṅsate
ā + ai > āy		B mā aiśeñcañ		mā=yśeñcañ
e + a > a, ā, e		B śle alyeṅkäts		śle=lyeṅkäts
e + ā > ā		A sne ālak		sn=ālak
e + i > i		B poyśiñe ikeś		poyśiñ=ikeś
e + o > o, e		B te oṅkor		t=oṅkor
e + ai > ai		B te aikemar		t=aikemar
e + au > au		B wpelme auñento		wpelm=auñento
o + a > o		A tunṅkyo aśśi		tunṅkyo=śśi
o + ā > ā		A tunṅkyo āriñc		tunṅky=āriñc
o + e > o		B yärpo entwe		yärpo=ntwe
o + ai > oy		B po aiśeñcai		po=yśeñcai

Consonant sandhi is less widespread than its vocalic counterpart. In general, final consonants may assimilate to the point of articulation of the following initial consonant, so that for example a dental consonant may become palatal before a following palatal.

Initial-Consonant Examples		Before Sandhi		After Sandhi
Dental		B täñ no		tän no
Palatal		A ālakäṃ caṃ		ālakäñ caṃ
		B śaul ñi		śauly ñi
Velar		B postäṃ ka		postäṅ ka

In addition, one finds that a final consonant is occasionally doubled before a following initial vowel. In Tocharian A this generally occurs before enclitics. The complementary process is also seen, where an initial consonant is doubled after a preceding final vowel. See the following chart.

Consonant-Doubling Examples		Before Sandhi		After Sandhi
C + V > CC + V		A tmäṣ aci		tmäṣṣ aci
		B poñ āppai		poññ āppai
V + C > V + CC		B entwe ka		entwe kka
		B welñenta ceṃts		welñenta cceṃts

7 Case

Case, more specifically morphological case, signifies the mechanism whereby changes to the ending of a noun, adjective, or pronoun serve to denote its grammatical role in a particular utterance. This survives in a relatively small way in modern English, particularly with the addition of 's to denote the genitive singular, or s' to denote the genitive plural, or s to denote nominative or oblique plural. Here the terms nominative, genitive, and oblique are all names of cases in modern English. Some, like the nominative and genitive, still largely carry the form and/or function of their historical predecessors in Proto-Indo-European; the other, the oblique, by contrast is an amalgam of historically distinct cases whose forms merged to give the modern representative. Much the same state of affairs holds in the Tocharian languages.

Speaking loosely, the nominative is the case of the grammatical subject of a clause, or of something equated with the subject. Thus English she is nominative, since this is the form of the feminine pronoun which one uses for the grammatical subject: she walked home yesterday. The genitive is often explained as the "possessive case", since this is a common function represented by the marker 's and s' in English, but this is a great oversimplification. The case denotes very general relationship or qualification. Consider the relations denoted by 's in the following phrases:

1. Lincoln's presidency;
2. gold's luster;
3. Lincoln's assassination;
4. Booth's assassination;
5. Lincoln's top hat.

The first and second show what many would call "possession," but this is usually for lack of a better term, since 'presidency' and 'luster' are not commodities one can buy at the local store. The third denotes the object of the action represented by assassination, the fourth denotes the subject. Only the last actually denotes possession. The oblique denotes in English the object of a verb or preposition, such as me in the following sentences: He hit me; He gave me the book; He gave the book to me.

Proto-Indo-European possessed a much more robust case system than that of modern English. PIE, by most reconstructions, had eight cases: nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative, vocative. These cases survived intact only in the earliest exemplars of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family; in other families, the forms of different cases fell away and their roles were adopted by the forms of other cases, perhaps aided by the use of prepositions or postpositions (compare English me and to me above). This same process occurred within the history of the Tocharian languages, so that only three of the original PIE cases survived as morphological entities in Tocharian. However the use to postpositions in conjunction with one of these cases became so widespread that it appears to have led to the generation of new cases, different in form -- and sometimes in function -- from the original PIE cases. In this way Tocharian developed a two-tiered case system, the remnants of the PIE cases being called primary, and the newly developed cases called secondary.

7.1 Primary Cases

Tocharian retains only three of the original Indo-European cases: the nominative, genitive, and accusative, this last generally called the oblique case in the literature because it forms the basis for the secondary cases discussed below. Tocharian B additionally retains a vocative case. The nominative has generally undergone numerous changes which obscure the relation between the Tocharian endings and the original Indo-European endings, and even when the oblique shows some of its original PIE color, terminating in a nasal, this turns out to be a false friend -- since final consonants other than liquids and the voiced dental stop were generally lost in the earliest stages of the Tocharian language family, the nasal element of many oblique endings must in fact come from a PIE suffix preceding the ending, and not the ending itself. This is a large clue to the origin of many Tocharian nominal patterns lying with the extension of the original PIE n-stems. The genitive shows a variety of endings, which at times go back to PIE genitive endings, but possibly also to dative endings. This latter possibility is bolstered by the fact that the Tocharian genitive case often serves many of the roles of the PIE dative case.

The following chart shows the original PIE cases and their survival in the primary cases of Tocharian.

PIE Case		Function		English Example		Survives in Tocharian
Nominative		subject		she sees him		Nominative
Accusative		direct object		she sees him		Oblique
		directed motion		she throws it across the room
Instrumental		thing by means of which		she sees him with her eyes
		accompaniment		she is going with him
Dative		indirect object		she give a book to him		Genitive
Ablative		source		she comes from New York
Genitive		relation		her look was enchanting		Genitive
		possession		her car was red
Locative		stationary position		she called me at home
Vocative		direct address		O, my Lord!		Vocative

The blank spaces in the rightmost column indicate that the given PIE case did not survive in the primary cases of Tocharian. Most of the functions however are taken up in the secondary case system, to be described later.

7.1.1 Declension Types

Due to the large number of phonological changes between Proto-Indo-European and the Tocharian languages, the original PIE declensional types have undergone a heavy restructuring. The result is a large degree of variation between declensional classes. But across the board, Tocharian nouns fall into two broad types based on the formation of the plural:

Type (a)		nominative plural						different from						oblique plural;
Type (b)		nominative plural						same as						oblique plural.

Given these two basic types, some further tendencies may be pointed out. In both languages, nouns of Type (a) generally have singular forms which differ in the nominative and accusative. Likewise, Type (b) nouns generally have singular nominative and oblique forms which are the same. Thus we have the following tendencies:

i.		nom. pl. different from obl. pl.						==>						nom. sg. different from obl. sg.
ii.		nom. pl. same as obl. pl.						==>						nom. sg. same as obl. sg.

But this certainly does not always hold true.

7.1.2 Primary Case Endings

The singular nominative and oblique in both Tocharian A and B lack an explicit ending. Human nouns provide the exception, where the oblique singular is marked by -ṃ. This lack of an overt marker led in Tocharian A to a nearly uniform equivalence of nominative and oblique forms. In Tocharian B, stem alternations prevented this equivalence, except when the nouns derived from original PIE *o-stem masculines and from PIE neuters.

The genitive singular shows AB -i, the reflex of the PIE dative, in nouns denoting kinship and proper names. In other situations, the genitive singular generally shows A -ys B -ntse, reflexes of PToch. *-nse.

The vocative only survives in Tocharian B. The form of the vocative varies widely across declensional types.

The nominative and oblique dual in Tocharian always maintain the same form in both Tocharian A and Tocharian B.

We may consider nominative and oblique plural forms according to type. Type (a) plurals in Tocharian A always have oblique ending A -s. The nominative shows A -ñ after a stem-final vowel, or A -i after a stem-final consonant (which may be palatalized as a result). Type (a) plurals in Tocharian B always have oblique ending B -ṃ. The nominative shows the ending B -i for Tocharian B e-stems, the ending B -ñ for stems in other vowels, and the ending B -i for stems ending in a consonant (which is always palatalized as a result).

Type (b) nominative and oblique plurals generally have A (zero) B -a. A stem change generally accompanies these endings:

Type (b)		Toch. A Sg.		Toch. A Pl.						Toch. B Sg.		Toch. B Pl.
Nominative		pältsäk		pälskant						palsko		pälskonta
Oblique		pältsäk		pälskant						palsko		pälskonta

The genitive plural in Tocharian A nouns of Type (b) is A -śśi. Tocharian A frequently employs the genitive singular ending in the plural. Tocharian B has the ending B -ts. Alongside this Tocharian B uses B -ṃts, an ending probably originally restricted to nouns of Type (a).

7.1.3 Primary Case Reference Paradigms

The following tables show the primary case forms for the nouns A yuk B yakwe 'horse' and A oṅk B eṅkwe 'man'. Note that the latter, being human, shows the ending -ṃ in the oblique.

		Toch. A Sg.		Toch. A Pl.						Toch. B Sg.		Toch. B Pl.
Nominative		yuk 'horse'		yukañ						yakwe		yakwi
Genitive		yukes		yukaśśi						yäkwentse		yäkweṃts
Oblique		yuk		yukas						yakwe		yakweṃ
Nominative		oṅk 'man'		oṅkañ						eṅkwe		eṅkwi
Genitive		oṅkis		oṅkaśśi						eṅkwentse		eṅkweṃts
Oblique		oṅkaṃ		oṅkas						eṅkweṃ		eṅkweṃ

7.1.4 Preview of Declension Classes

As with many of the other Indo-European languages, the nominal inflection of the Tocharian languages can be divided into several broad classes. Each of these, in turn, often has further subclasses. Given the structure mentioned above, it is not surprising that the division into classes is based mainly on the structure of the endings of the nominative and oblique plural.

This is convenient from a synchronic point of view, since in terms of endings there are few other markers that are sufficiently thoroughgoing as to allow their use as a means of classification. From the standpoint of Indo-European linguistics, this classification system is unfortunate, inasmuch as it often cuts across the typical divisions into PIE *o-stems, *i-stems, *n-stems, etc. However this classification system does highlight the fact that, for example, the nominative singular forms of nouns vary to a large degree, and do not provide much information as to the actual inflection of a given noun.

As a preview of coming attractions, and for convenient reference, the following chart lists the basic declension classes and their primary distinguishing features.

Noun Class		Type		Case		Toch. A Plurals		Toch. B Plurals
I		(b)		Nom.		-ā, -wā, -u		-a, -wa
				Obl.		-ā, -wā, -u		-a, -wa
II		(b)		Nom.		-ṃ, -mnā-		-na, -nma
				Obl.		-ṃ, -mnā-		-na, -nma
III		(b)		Nom.		-nt, -ntu		-nta, *-ntwa
				Obl.		-nt, -ntu		-nta, *-ntwa
IV		(a), (b)		Nom.		(r)i, (r)e		(er)a, (är)ñ
				Obl.		(r)äs, (r)es		(er)a, (är)ñ
V		(a)		Nom.		-i, -ñ		-i
				Obl.		-s		-ṃ
VI		(a)		Nom.		-ñ		-ñ
				Obl.		-s		-ṃ
VII		(a)		Nom.				-ñc
				Obl.				-ntäṃ

As one can see from the chart, the division into classes follows primarily according to the forms found in Tocharian B, as for example in Class VII. Class IV contains only kinship nouns with stem in -r-. Some scholars ascribe to Class VIII the nouns which do not fall into the above classes.

8 Adjective Structure

8.1 Adjective Endings

The plural of Tocharian A adjectives are Type (a) in the masculine, and either Type (a) or Type (b) in the feminine. The plurals of Tocharian B adjectives are Type (a) in the masculine and Type (b) in the feminine. The singular of both Tocharian A and B adjectives can be either Type (a) or Type (b). The dual of Tocharian A and B adjective always have identical nominative and oblique forms.

The feminine of adjectives is generally signaled by a suffix A -yā- B -ya- placed between stem and ending. This suffix is present in all forms of the feminine singular. The plural however is not as uniform. All Type (a) forms in Tocharian A and some paradigms in Tocharian B retain the singular stem in the plural. Another tendency in both languages, however, is to use the masculine singular nominative or oblique form as the basis for a Type (b) paradigm.

The above description of adjectives is depicted in the following two tables.

Toch. A Adj.		Masc. Type		Masc. Stem						Fem. Type		Fem. Stem
Singular		(a)		[base]						(a)		[base]-yā-
		(b)		[base]						(b)		[base]-yā-
Dual		(b)		[base]						(b)		[m/f]
Plural		(a)		[base]						(a)		[base]-yā-
										(b1)		[base]
										(b2)		[m.sg.nom/obl]

Toch. B Adj.		Masc. Type		Masc. Stem						Fem. Type		Fem. Stem
Singular		(a)		[base]						(a)		[base]-ya-
		(b)		[base]						(b)		[base]-ya-
Dual		(b)		[base]						(b)		[m/f]
Plural		(a)		[base]
										(b1)		[base]-ya-
										(b2)		[m.sg.nom/obl]

In the tables above, [base] stands for the basic stem as found in the dictionary entry. [m/f] denotes the fact that either the masculine or feminine stem may be used. [m.sg.nom/obl] represents the fact that either the nominative or oblique form (not stem) of the masculine singular may be used as the new stem for certain forms.

The nominative singular has no marker for any gender in either Tocharian A or Tocharian B. The oblique singular adds a nasal to the basic nominative form, though in Tocharian B this undergoes the change PToch *-aN > B -ai.

The genitive singular masculine ending is A -(y)āp B -epi (though B -pi appears after a vowel). Occasionally Tocharian B employs the ending B -e < PIE *-os in the genitive masculine. The genitive singular feminine ends in A -e B -ai.

The nominative plural masculine of Tocharian A shows A -e, A -ñ, A -i after a stem-final consonant (which may be palatalized as a result), or just simple palatalization of a final consonant without addition of an overt ending. Tocharian B shows the ending B -i for Tocharian B e-stems, the ending B -ñ for stems in other vowels, or simple palatalization of the final consonant.

The oblique plural has a more irregular formation. In general Tocharian B adds a nasal to the stem. Tocharian A for the most part shows the ending A -s in the masculine, but this is generally added to the nominative form, not to the stem.

The following tables summarize the above.

Adj. Endings A		Masc.		Fem.
Nom. Sg.		[base]-(zero)		[base]-yā--(zero)
Gen.		[base]-(y)āp		[base]-yā--e
Obl.		[base]-(N)		[base]-yā--(N)
Nom. Pl.		[base]-e, (V)-ñ, (C'), (C')-i
Gen.
Obl.		[m.pl.nom]-s

Adj. Endings B		Masc.		Fem.
Nom. Sg.		[base]-(zero)		[base]-ya--(zero)
Gen.		[base](C)-epi, (V)-pi, -e		[base]-ya--ai
Obl.		[base]-ai		[base]-ya--ai
Nom. Pl.		[base](e)-i, (V)-ñ, (C')
Gen.
Obl.		[base]-(N)

In the tables above, N stands for a nasal, V stands for a vowel, C for a consonant, and C' for a palatalized consonant. (zero) denotes the absence of an ending, while a blank space denotes the lack of a succinct, overarching pattern.

8.2 Adjective Classes

Adjectives are divided into four main classes. This division follows the Tocharian B forms of the masculine singular. The distinction of the forms is inherited from the Proto-Indo-European structure of the forms, so that there is a fairly clean correspondence between Tocharian adjective types and distinct PIE formations.

There are four adjective classes. These may be split into two basic groups: thematic and athematic classes. Adjective Class I is thematic. This means in PIE terms that the suffix preceding the ending included a vowel, such as in PIE *o-stem formations: PIE *medʰ-i(y)o-s gives Lat. medius, Grk. mésos, Skt. madʰya-. The remaining three adjective classes are athematic, characterized by the lack of such a vowel in the suffix before the ending. Each athematic class is distinguished based on the PIE athematic suffix leading to the Tocharian formation: PIE *-n-, *-nt-, or *-s-. The following chart illustrates the Tocharian adjective classes.

Adjective Class		Case		Toch. B Plural		PIE
I		Nom.		-i		-oi
(thematic)		Obl.		-eṃ		-o-ns
II		Nom.		-ñ		-n-es
(athematic)		Obl.		-(nä)ṃ		-n-ṇs
III		Nom.		-ñc		-nt-es
(athematic)		Obl.		-ntäṃ		-nt-ṇs
IV		Nom.		-ṣ		-s-es
(athematic)		Obl.		-ṣäṃ		-s-ṇs

Note that a vowel may be part of the PIE ending, even though it is not a part of the suffix, in an athematic form. The thematic/athematic distinction refers to the root suffix, and not to the ending.

9 Present System

The present system of verbs comprises both finite verb forms (the present indicative verb tense) and non-finite forms (the present participle, gerundive, and infinitive). Both the indicative and participle have separate formations for active and mediopassive voices.

The verbs of the two Tocharian languages show several variations in present formation. These different formations are characterized by the suffixes, and sometimes infixes, which are applied to the basic verbal root. Some of these affixes function in a manner analogous to various types in the other ancient Indo-European languages. It is therefore convenient to distinguish those which have their origin in the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, and those which are new formations generated within Tocharian.

9.1 Present Classes

The distinction of the various classes of present conjugation in Tocharian have their origins in different stem formations in Proto-Indo-European itself. Several different types of primary PIE formations have made their way into Tocharian. The root athematic verbs remain in the present CLASS I, as in Tocharian A swiñc 'they rain' < PIE *suh₂-énti, while the root thematic presents remain in CLASS II: B akem 'we lead' < PIE *h₂eǵ-o-mes, cf. Lat. agimus. In two of the Tocharian present classes, the thematic vowel *-o- has replaced the thematic *-e- and been extended throughout the entire paradigm. These are most clearly illustrated in Tocharian B: CLASS III lipetär 'is left over' < PIE *lip-o-tor; CLASS IV osotär 'dries' < PIE *as-o-tor.

The nasal-infixing presents are also well-represented in Tocharian. CLASS VI contains verbs with a nasal infix before a root-final laryngeal, such as AB musnātär 'lifts up', cf. Ved. muṣṇā́ti 'steals'. CLASS VII contains other nasal-infixed stems such as B piṅkeṃ 'they paint' < PIE *pi-n-g-, cf. Lat. pingunt.

Other classes contain suffixed roots. For example, CLASS VIII contains the thematic s-suffix *-se / o-: A nämseñc 'they bow down to, they revere', cf. Gk. némō 'I pay'. CLASS IX contains verbs with the *-sḱe / o-suffix, as in B aiskau 'I give'.

CLASS XII contains verbs derived from nominal items by variations on the PIE *-ye / o-suffix. For example, B lareññentär 'they love' < PToch. *lāren-yä-, cf. Toch. AB lareñ (pl.) 'dear'.

The remaining classes are either of uncertain origin or Tocharian extensions of these basic types. CLASS V perhaps contains verbs with a final laryngeal *-H- or with the suffix -eh₂- found in the Latin first conjugation. CLASS X seems to be a Tocharian extension by *-sḱe / o- of stems already ending in a nasal or nasal followed by a laryngeal, such as the verbs of CLASS VI. Similarly, CLASS XI contains verbs whose stems already ended in the *-se /o-suffix found in CLASS VIII, but which were further extended by the *-sḱe / o-suffix. The present classes of Tocharian are outlined in the following table.

Present Class		Type		Affix		Toch. A		Toch. B		Comparanda
I		athematic		*-(zero)		pälkiñc		palkeṃ		Gk. pʰlégō, Lat. fulgeō
II		thematic		*-e / o		pärtär		paräṃ		Skt. bʰárati, Gk. pʰéretai
III		thematic		*-o		wikatär		wiketär		Skt. vijáte, OHG wīhhan
IV		thematic		*-o		plantatär		plontotär
V		athematic		*-H-, -eh₂		śwāṣ		śuwaṃ		Eng. chew, OE cēowan
VI		athematic		*-n-H		knāṣ		katnaṃ		Gk. skídnēmi
VII		athematic		*-n				piṅkeṃ		Lat. pingunt
VIII		thematic		*-se / o		arsamäs		ersem(o)
IX		thematic		*-sḱe / o				aiskau
X		thematic		*-n(H)-sḱe / o		tämnäṣtär		tänmastär
XI		thematic		*-se / o-sḱe / o		āksisam		aksáskau		Lat. aiō
XII		thematic		*-ṇ(H)-ye / o		tuṅkiññant		āñmantär

9.2 Present Endings

The present tense may also function as a future, akin to English I am going to the grocery store tomorrow and Spanish Voy mañana al mercado, and in that sense more proper terminology for the present tense would be non-past. More frequently, however, Tocharian employs the subjunctive as a future tense. The subjunctive nevertheless uses the same endings as the present tense. The non-past endings of Tocharian verbs are given in the following table.

Non-Past		Active A		Active B						Mediopassive A		Mediopassive B
1 Sg.		-m		-u / w						-mār		-mar
2		-t		-t						-tār		-tar
3		-s		-ṃ						-tär		-tär
3 Dual				-teṃ
1 Pl.		-mäs		-m						-mtär		-mtär
2		-c		-cer						-cär		-tär
3		-y(ñc)		-ṃ						-ntär		-ntär
Pres. Ppl.		-ant		-eñca						-māṃ		-mane
Grnd.		-l		-lle
Pres. Infin.		-tsi		-tsi

The participle and infinitive are only employed with the present stem. The gerundive, however, is employed with either the present or subjunctive stem.

The dual form is rarely encountered.

The Indo-European heritage of the Tocharian endings is quite evident in the mediopassive, where the same marker *-r is found as in Latin, e.g. Lat. tingit 'touches' vs. tingitur 'is touched'.

9.3 Non-Past Reference Paradigms

The following chart shows the present forms for the verb AB läk- 'see'. Since the subjunctive also employs the non-past endings, these forms are given as well.

Non-Past		Present A		Present B						Subjunctive A		Subjunctive B
Active
1 Sg.		lkām		lkāskau						*pälkām		lakau
2		lkāt		lkāst(o)						*pälkāt		lkāt(o)
3		lkāṣ		lkāṣṣäṃ						*pälkāṣ		lkaṃ
1 Pl.		lkāmäs		*lkāskeṃ						*pälkāmäs		lkām(o)
2		lkāc		*lkāścer						*pälkāc		lkācer
3		lkeñc		lkāskeṃ						*pälkeñc		lakaṃ
Ppl.		lkānt		lkāṣṣeñca
Grnd.		lkāl		lkāṣṣälle						*pälkāl		lkālle
Infin.		lkātsi		lkātsI
Mediopassive
1 Sg.		lkāmār		*lkāskemar						pälkāmār		lkāmar
2		lkātār		lkāstar						pälkātār		lkātar
3		lkātär		lkāstär						pälkātär		lkātär
1 Pl.		lkāmtär		*lkāskemt(t)är						pälkāmtär		lkāmt(t)är
2		lkācär		*lkāstär						pälkācär		lkātār
3		lkāntär		*lkāskentär						pälkāntär		lkāntär
Ppl.		lkāmāṃ		lkāskemane

The forms with asterisks, of which there are clearly quite a few, are unattested. And AB läk- is actually one of the best attested Tocharian verbs!

Note some of the important inequivalences between the Tocharian languages regarding the stems employed in verb formation. In particular the Tocharian B present indicative of AB läk- shows the *-sk- causative formation, but without any change in meaning. Tocharian A, by contrast, does not use this formation in the simple present. Likewise, the form with stem-final long -ā- provides the present in Tocharian A, while it provides the subjunctive in Tocharian B. Tocharian A actually employs a completely different root in the subjunctive.

10 Agglutination

The Tocharian languages are exceptionally beautiful and unique among the ancient Indo-European languages for the way in which they freeze frame an show an intermediate phase in a shift from the PIE synthetic system to a new (from a PIE point of view) agglutinative system.

We may characterize the difference between synthetic and agglutinative languages broadly as follows. A synthetic language is one in which form denotes function; by contrast, an agglutinative language is one in which form fits function. More specifically, the major ancient Indo-European languages are generally classic examples of synthetic languages. For example, Latin distinguishes grammatically a nominative case and a genitive case. In the first declension, we have the following endings:

Latin 1st Decl.		Singular		Plural
Nom.		-a		-ae
Gen.		-ae		-ārum

Thus Latin has an ending for each case and number, i.e. an ending for nominative and genitive, each singular and plural. But note that the ending is different for singular and plural, both in the nominative and in the genitive. There is no single 'nominative ending'. Moreover, the nominative plural ending is the same as the genitive singular ending! Thus, given the Latin form nautae, out of context, one cannot say if the intended meaning is 'sailors' (as subject) or 'of the sailor'. In the context of an utterance such complete ambiguity is rarely felt, but nevertheless possible (as any modern student of Latin is well aware!). Thus in a synthetic language like Latin the form denotes the grammatical function, but not uniquely.

Moreover, in synthetic languages like Latin, the ending may change slightly depending on the form of the stem to which it is applied. For example, the accusative singular of Lat. rex 'king' is rēgem, but the accusative singular of Lat. turris 'tower' is turrim.

Agglutinative languages, however, show in some sense a more rigid matching between form and function. Tocharian exhibits this agglutinative tendency in the secondary cases of nouns (to be discussed more fully in the next lesson). For example, Tocharian A employs the ending -aśśäl to denote the comitative, i.e. to denote accompaniment. This ending is employed any time the sense of accompaniment is desired; the form does not alter depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. The one function is denoted by this one form. Thus, if one wants to construct a form meaning 'with the horse', one takes the noun A yuk 'horse', arrives at the singular oblique (incidentally also yuk), and then applies the comitative ending: hence yukaśśäl 'with the horse'. If one wants to arrive at a form denoting 'with the horses', then one follows an analogous procedure: yuk 'horse' becomes yukas (obl. pl.) 'horses', and finally yukasaśśäl 'with the horses'. The point is that the secondary case suffix is invariant. Comitative is comitative is comitative. The same applies to all other secondary case endings.

Many modern languages the world over function according to this type of agglutinative structure, for example Japanese and Finnish. Tocharian however is the unique instance of an Indo-European language exhibiting this structure. What is all the more beautiful, however, is the fact that Tocharian appears to be in the process of changing from synthetic to agglutinative structure. This too is clear in the nouns (or perhaps it is more accurate to say this is mostly restricted to the nouns). First and foremost, the primary cases still function according to the general PIE synthetic structure, so that nominative, genitive and oblique case endings change depending on the stem to which they are applied. But one finds examples where the Tocharian languages are beginning to treat the primary cases in a manner analogous to the secondary cases.

This change is particularly apparent with the genitive. The genitive, though a primary case and therefore synthetic, still in some sense allows its case marker to 'distribute' over the entire noun phrase. In Latin one says tōtīus mundī 'of the entire world', where both tōtīus and mundī are genitive singular forms, redundantly marking the fact that the noun phrase as a whole is in the genitive. Though Tocharian may parallel such constructions, one also finds A poñcäṃ saṃsāris 'of the entire world' -- here the -is of saṃsāris is the proper synthetic case marker of the genitive; but rather than redundantly mark 'entire' with a genitive ending, Tocharian employs the oblique instead. That is, the Tocharian speaker understands the noun + (synthetic) genitive ending structure in the same fashion as the secondary case construction noun-oblique + secondary case ending. Thus the group inflection typically employed with secondary cases begins to be employed with the primary cases as well. This however is not uniformly applied, suggesting that Tocharian is still in a process of converting from synthetic to agglutinative structure in the nouns.

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