5 Conclusions

We have measured the line-of-sight velocity distributions (LOSVDs) for a sample of 49 early-type galaxies by means of the fourier quotient method and the fourier fitting method. From the observed LOSVDs rotation velocities and velocity dispersions were derived and deviations of the LOSVDs from Gaussian profiles were parameterized by the amplitudes h₃ and h₄of third- and fourth order Gauss-Hermite functions. For the investigation of correlations between different kinematic and photometric properties mean kinematic parameters were derived from the profiles.

The galaxies are shown to follow the general correlation between anisotropy and luminosity as described by Davies et al. (1983). The position of the galaxies in $\kappa$-space (Bender et al. 1992) was also plotted. All galaxies are shown to be giant sequence members, one galaxy lies within the zone of exclusion (ZOE).

Following Bender et al. (1994) the sample galaxies were divided into several representative object classes by examining their kinematic profiles. 32% of the examined galaxies contain kinematically decoupled central components, the size of these components was $0.40\pm 0.28$ kpc, in each case the component was smaller than 1 kpc. The kinematic signature of a stellar disk component is found in 49% of the sample galaxies, in 15% this is uncertain. Therefore it is highly probable that in more than half of all early-type galaxies a stellar disk component exists.

The galaxies which contain kinematically decoupled components are more likely to be found in groups of higher density than others. This fact supports the theory that kinematically decoupled components are the remnants of merging events which are more likely to be found in high-density environments than in the field.