Editors' preface
The present celebratory volume of Acta Linguistica Petropolitana pays homage to the founder of the journal, Professor Nikolai Nikolaevich Kazansky, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. At the same time, the volume continues the Colloquia Classica et Indogermanica series (1998-), likewise founded by the honorand and devoted to classical philology and Indo-European linguistics, two fields of study that have always been at the core of Nikolai Kazansky's research interests.
Among the vast range of Nikolai Kazansky's achievements is not only the founding of Acta Linguistica Petropolitana in 2003 and dedicated work as its editor-in-chief until 2017, but also the founding of the journal Indo-European Linguistics and Classical Philology, published since 1998, of which he remains the editor-in-chief. The journal originated as the proceedings volume of the eponymous international conference dedicated to the memory of Joseph M. Tronsky and has over the years developed into a renowned journal in the field. This annual conference, revived by the honorand in 1997 after it had been discontinued for almost a decade, is one of the main venues for scholarly debates on classical antiquity and comparative Indo-European linguistics in Russia and is widely recognized abroad.
Nikolai Kazansky graduated from the Department of Classical Philology at Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) State University in 1974 where his teachers were A. I. Zaitsev, A. I. Dovatour, and L. G. Herzenberg. The same year he began his graduate studies at the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (now the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Important milestones of the early stages of his brilliant academic career include his Ph.D. (Candidate of Sciences) thesis Древние греко-анатолийские языковые связи на территории Малой Азии. Памфилийский диалект древнегреческого языка [Ancient Greek-Anatolian Language Contacts in Asia Minor] (Leningrad, 1980) and the Habilitation (Doctor of Sciences) thesis Проблемы ранней истории древнегреческого языка: языковые реконструкции и проблемы языковой нормы [Problems in the Early History of Ancient Greek: Linguistic Reconstruction and the Language Norm] (Leningrad, 1990). Head of the Department of Comparative Historical Indo-European Linguistics and Areal Studies at the Institute for Linguistic Studies (since 1998), director of the Institute for Linguistic Studies (2001–2018), and Member of the Academy of Sciences since 2002, Nikolai Kazansky has always been a true champion of philology and linguistics in Russia.
The publication record of the honorand is striking. In addition to over 200 articles on a wide range of linguistic and philological topics, Nikolai Kazansky is the author and co-author of several monographic studies that have become standard reference sources. These include Предметно-понятийный словарь греческого языка. Крито-микенский период [Thematic Vocabulary of Ancient Greek: the Creto-Mycenaean Period] (co-authored with his wife Vanda P. Kazanskiene; Leningrad, 1986), Диалекты древнегреческого языка [Ancient Greek Dialects] (Leningrad, 1983), Principles of the Reconstruction of a Fragmentary Text. New Stesichorean Papyri (St. Petersburg, 1997), Очерк фонологии латинского языка [An Outline of Latin Phonology] (St. Petersburg, 2017), Проблемы латинской лексикологии [Issues in Latin Lexicology] (St. Petersburg, 2022).
Nikolai Kazansky's prolific publication activity is truly remarkable when one considers the number of books that he has edited or co-edited, including multiple publications of the Institute of Linguistic Studies covering all aspects of linguistics and beyond. To name just a few, Эмиль Бенвенист. Словарь индоевропейских социальных терминов [Émile Benveniste. Le vocabulaire des institutions indo-européennes] (translation from French with commentary by Ju. S. Stepanov and N. N. Kazansky; Moscow, 1995), И. М. Тронский. Историческая грамматика латинского языка [J. M. Tronsky. Historical Grammar of Latin] (an expanded edition with a commentary; St. Petersburg, 2001), Hr̥dā mánasā: Сборник статей к 70-летию со дня рождения профессора Леонарда Георгиевича Герценберга [Hr̥dā mánasā: Studies Presented to Professor Leonard G. Herzenberg on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday] (St. Petersburg, 2005), Индоиранское языкознание и типология языковых ситуаций. Сборник статей к 75-летию профессора Александра Леоновича Грюнберга (1930-1995) [Indo-Iranian Linguistics and the Typology of Linguistic Situations. Professor Alexander L. Gruenberg Memorial Volume (1930-1995)] (St. Petersburg, 2006). The sharpness of Nikolai Kazansky's editorial eye has become proverbial. For obvious reasons, the present volume could not benefit from that sharpness, which could have saved it from many an imperfection.
Like Hercules holding the heavenly vault in one of his labors, Nikolai Kazansky — a unique specialist in Indo-European linguistics, Ancient Greek dialects, and Mycenaean — has carried an incredible burden of administrative duties. He is renowned for the efforts he put into ensuring not only the development, but at times indeed the survival, of linguistic and philological schools in Russia, as well as the inclusion of the Russian philological tradition into international context.
Combining research, administrative, and editorial duties with teaching, Nikolai Kazansky has trained several new generations of specialists in ancient languages. Since 1974 he has taught at the Department of Classical Philology and the Department of General Linguistics of the St. Petersburg State University and he has occasionally served as a visiting professor at other universities, in particular, at the Moscow State University. Nikolai Kazansky took an active part in the revival of Indo-European studies in St. Petersburg initiated by Professor Leonhard G. Herzenberg (1934-2012) at the Department of General Linguistics. Seminars held by Prof. Herzenberg and Prof. Kazansky in 1990s, over-crowded with students from different departments, developed into complete M.A. (2010-) and B.A. (2021-) programs in Indo-European Linguistics.
Everyone who has ever had the pleasure of personal communication with Nikolai Nikolaevich has been fascinated by his incredible erudition, which extends far beyond his areas of research specialty. Even in academia, few people possess such detailed knowledge and nuanced understanding of the individual fates of the Russian intelligentsia throughout the 20th century, with all of its hardships and moments of glory.
The humanistic spirit of the honorand reveals itself not only in passionate discussions about the past, present and future of humanities; it has left a noticeable mark in the general ambience at the Institute for Linguistic Studies over the past decades. The highest ethical standards, respectful and cooperative attitude among colleagues, focus on research achievements, maintained at an organization comprised by over a hundred specialists in a wide range of linguistic fields, have brought the Institute true renown. Overcoming obstacles in order to find a fruitful solution which would benefit the discipline, the institution, or even the individual scholar is characteristic of Nikolai Kazansky's practical wisdom. This, coupled with his genuine care and concern about the well-being of his colleagues, has earned him universal gratitude, respect, and admiration.
While most of Nikolai Kazansky's research, teaching, and administrative achievements were accomplished in Russia, the composition of the present volume reflects the world-wide esteem in which he is held by fellow linguists and philologists. Unsurprisingly, papers on classical antiquity and the history of Greek language constitute the core of the present collection. N. V. Braginskaya in her contribution of the Passio of Perpetua and Felicitas shows that a co-martyr by the name Revocatus actually did not exist, and that his emergence as a separate saint is due to a textual error. F. De Decker offers a meticulous analysis of augmented and non-augmented forms of δίδωμι in the Iliad. P. J. Finglass examines fragments of Stesichorus' Geryoneis that treat the Pholus episode. M. Janda compares Greek and Vedic stories of the Dawn Goddess fleeing the Hunter, which he sees as a reflection of PIE astronomical observations. A. Kassian and O. Popova reassess the evidence of Late Babylonian words in Greek alphabet. D. Kölligan analyzes the etymology and usage of adjectives denoting calmness in Greek and Latin (ἥσυχος and tranquillus). L. Kulikov discusses the etymology of Κρόνος and the rare nominal type in -όνο-. S. Luraghi offers a study of the verb ἀρέσκειν, with a special focus on how the changes in the syntactic construction reflect changes in the semantics of the verb. A. Nikolaev suggests a new etymology for the rare Greek verb μαπέειν. A. V. Podossinov offers a word-by-word commentary of a Greek epigram preserved in Ptolemy's Geography, focusing on the epithets of peoples that it mentions and on their geographical location. B. Vine argues that Mycenaean tu-wo and Greek θύος should be analyzed as a neuter s-stem with a zero-grade root, supplementing the fairly small group of such examples in Greek and emphasizing their importance for the reappraisal of the Erlangen model of accentuation. R. Viredaz offers a series of observations concerning the use and etymology of Greek γλαυκός, ἑστία, νεογῑλός and the gloss κρησίπαιδα. V. V. Zelchenko examines Greek ἀρνίον and ὕδιον, showing that in neither case there is reason to suspect a separate lexical meaning going beyond semantics proper to diminutives. Four papers are dedicated to the Anatolian languages. H. C. Melchert reevaluates the meaning and etymology of Hittite hulli/a- and its possible congeners. E. Rieken proposes a new etymology of Luwian /watt(i)-/ 'mountain'. A. Sideltsev discusses the use of intransitive verbs as passives in Hittite. I. Yakubovich studies Luwian particles /-dar/ and /-r/ and comes to conclusion that they are allomorphs of the same clitic. Several papers are dedicated to various aspects of Proto-Indo-European reconstruction. K. Ackermann argues that Old Church Slavonic skvozě 'through' and its cognates allow reconstructing a Proto-Indo-European spatial adverb and particle *(H)eǵh- with ablative semantics. M. Kümmel discusses new approaches to the phonetic interpretation of Proto-Indo-European laryngeals. A. Lubotsky offers a new etymology for the rare Avestan form pašne based on minute philological analysis of its uses and semantic parallels outside Indo-Iranian. M. de Vaan addresses the issue of competing Proto-Indo-European reconstructions of the word 'salt' and argues that the variant with a final *-d- reflects the old instrumental case-form. In addition, the volume includes a number of papers dedicated to the history of individual Indo-European languages. R. Kim offers a new theory of the origin of the numerative form in Ossetic which he derives from Proto-Iranian nominative plural inflection. D. Petit discusses the etymology of Old Lithuanian prepositional phrase uß oßcʒių 'on the back side' and related issues of Baltic and Proto-Indo-European word-formation. L. Repanšek argues that Vedic sákthi- '(inner) thigh' should be derived from a Proto-Indo-Iranian dual form *sakt ī́ 'a pair of (inner) thighs'; this analysis has important implications for the reconstruction of Proto-Indo-European morphology. A. Scala shows what the evidence of Cilician Armenian has to offer for establishing the dialectal features of Outremer French. The issue of the origin of the Slavic 2nd person singular present ending is revisited by M. Villanueva Svensson, whose detailed diachronic analysis strives to explain the attested variants of the morpheme.
The guest editors of this volume, together with the editorial board of the Acta Linguistica Petropolitana, are happy to use this opportunity to thank all authors for their generous and insightful contributions.
The references to ancient Greek and Latin authors follow the system of abbreviations adopted by the Oxford Latin Dictionary (ed. by P. G. W. Glare, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968) and Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon (revised and augmented by H. G. Jones, with the assistance of R. McKenzie and the cooperation of many scholars, with a revised supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996). The references to Anatolian cuneiform texts follow the conventions adopted in the Hittite Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1989–).
To conclude, we wish the honorand much joy in reading the present volume, munus magna cum gratia et admiratione confectum. Gratulamur viro docto et illustri plurimosque annos ei optamus!
