About

Alan Jeffrey Nussbaum is a professor in the Department of Classics at Cornell University, located in 120 Goldwin Smith Hall. His research has focused on two main areas: Indo-European linguistics and Greek and Latin comparative and historical linguistics. In Indo-European linguistics, he has concentrated on questions related to the inflectional and derivational morphology of nominal forms in the reconstructed protolanguage, working on the morphological and semantic reconstruction of characteristic denominative substantives and adjectives of Proto-Indo-European, such as collectives, 'decasuatives', and the 'Caland system.' His second area of research involves Greek and Latin phonology and morphology, with studies on Greek and Latin phonological and morphological issues, work on Italic dialects, and analysis of Homeric language from the perspective of Greek historical grammar, as well as phonological and morphological aspects of epic composition.

Research topics

• Computer Science

Selected publications

• Frontmatter

  Cornell University Press eBooks · 2020

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  DOI

• Arcadian λευτον (IG 5.2.3, 3) Plus/Minus λευτοντες (IG 5.2.16,10) with an Appendix on λεύσσω, λεύσω and Proto-Greek *-ki-

  Scripta classica Israelica · 2020-03-31

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Arcadian (IG 5.2.3, 3) Plus/Miitus \evTovres (IG 5.2.16,10) with an Appendix on , and Proto-Greek *-ki-

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Can You Speciate This for Me? A Micro-Comic Strip

  Journal of Clinical Microbiology · 2019-06-24 · 1 citations

  editorialOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Homeric Formulary Template and a Linguistic Innovation in the Epics

  2018-04-04 · 2 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Feminine, Abstract, Collective, Neuter Plural: Some Remarks on each (Expanded Handout)

  2014-01-01 · 40 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Feminine, abstract, collective and neuter plural-the four categories of Indo-European (IE) nominal forms singled out explicitly or implicitly in the theme of the conference at which the discussion is presented. Instead, the basis for treating these four things as related is a morphological one, even if the morphological identity over the whole complex of forms now treated as relevant is itself the product of a certain amount of analysis and reconstruction of what is observable on the surface in the various IE languages. A noun classified structured or subdivided, however, does not merely designate something that has parts, but rather something that is made up of units considered to be identical to one another for the purpose of making up the whole thing in question, as illustrated momentarily. The term Collectives is reserved for items that are syntactic ± morphological singulars that make reference to a multiplicity. Keywords: collectives; feminine; Indo-European nominal forms; morphology; neuter plural

  PublisherDOI

• Beech Stave Press

  2013-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Verba docenti : studies in historical and Indo-European linguistics presented to Jay H. Jasanoff by students, colleagues, and friends

  2007-01-01 · 29 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Homeric OPHAI (Od. 14.343) and OMEITAI (Il. 9.274): Two of a Kind?

  Digital Commons - Colby (Colby College) · 2002-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The Greek presents (h)orao/e-, (h)ore-, and (hJoreo/e-"see"l 1.1 The familiar present stem (h)orao/e-"see" reflected in Attic opw, op~, opav, etc. is also found as such not only in relatively dissimilar dialects-Boe.OpaOVTI, (SGDI 860), Lac.0[1 (Alcm.1.40 PMG), Epidaurian pf.ptcpl.{J)paKVl,aV (IG IV 2 .1.122)-but is frequent in Ionic as well, where literary texts appear to provide such instances of this stem as: Archil.op~r; (176.1, 177.2), opa (105.1);Semon.op~(7.15,7.80), opwvTEr; (7.111); Theogn.op~(857+), opciJ7Jr; (93), opwv (747), OPWVT( 1059), E(JOpaV (858); CaHin.opw(J~v (1.20); Tyrt.opwv (12.11);Solon OpaTE (11.7), opw(J~(34.5),Hdl.-to cite a couple of cases without variant-op~(1.119.6), opw(J~(9.66.2), etc.In addition, it is this present stem that appears in Homer, in characteristically "distracted" form,2 of course, as opow (E244+), opaa.:(H448+), OPOCJ,?TE (~347), opaaa-8al, (71"107+), OPOWVTE~(P637), etc.1.It is assumed for the purposes of this discussion that the presents in question simply reflect a Proto-Greek *hor-that goes back in turn to an o-grade *sor-of the root *ser- (so Rix et al. [1998] 483f.).The form that makes difficulties for this reconstruction is the augmented Attic imperfect i.wpwv, which looks as if it ought to come from *~(h)yor-(type indic.i.clAwv < *~(h)yalvs.infin.flAwvaL < *(h)yal-in the aorist of Q.Ai(JKojJ.aL"be seized").But if Attic were to have redone the imperfect of opaw, it would not be a unique example of the extension of augmentation with ~from (h)y-initial roots to others.The ojg-of OLYW/ OLYVVJ.LL "open," which goes back to an *oyig-(cf.especially WiYVVVTO [B809+] < *{Jyig-etc.)beside *oyejg- (Lesb.infin.odYTJv [Schwyzer (1960) no.620.43])-and thus to *hJyejg-/*hJyig-or *o-yejg-/*o-yig-(with preverb *0-)-is another case of an effectively (h)V-initial root that has been given the kind of augmentation (impf.civiqJYov 0221+, aor.civiqJ~a K389+) that looks like it reflects *~yV-.In any event, nothing in the discussion that follows would be affected by a reconstruction of the root initial of opaw etc. as *(h)yor-rather than the *hor-being adopted here.2. See, e.g., Chantraine (1973) 75ff.

  Publisher

• Two Studies in Greek and Homeric Linguistics

  The Classical World · 2000-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• O eg regie grammatice: The vocative problems of latin words ending in-ius X

  2000-01-01

  article
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• G. M. Kirkwood

  Cornell University

  2 shared

• Judith Ginsburg

  Cornell University

  2 shared

• Jeffrey S. Rusten

  2 shared

• Pietro Pucci

  Cornell University

  2 shared

• Danuta Shanzer

  2 shared

• Kevin Clinton

  2 shared

• Gordon M. Messing

  Cornell University

  2 shared

• Frederick Ahl

  Cornell University

  2 shared