A minor correction, Miguel:
deiw-ó- remained an oxytone (Skt. devá-). Such secondary e-grade
creation (like *derw-ó- from "regular" *druw-ó- 'wood(en)' or *dHeus-ó-
from *dHus-, the nil grade of *dHwes-) is technically known as "Kurylowicz
vrddhi". When *deiwós was no longer treated as an adjective ('celestial') but as
a noun ('deity'), a new generation of adjectives was derived from it, also by
"normal" vrddhi (*de:iw-o- > Skt. daiva- 'divine, celestial').
The adventures of *dj(e)u- in Latin were
rather complicated. Pre-Latin *deiwos/(Gen.) *deiwi: changed *de.:wos/*de.:wi:
(*e. = a mid-high vowel) > *de:.os/*de:wi: > *deos/*de.:wi: >
deus/di:vi: (in standard orthography). The irregularity of this paradigm was
resolved by creating a new nominative for di:vi: and a set of new case forms for
deus. As a result, deus/di:vi: split into deus/dei: and di:vus/di:vi: (the
latter also functions as an adjective). The plural of deus was dei: or di:/dii
(regulr
Somewhat similarly, *die:us, (Acc.) *die:m
(with the glide lost already in PIE, cf. Greek Ze:n), (Gen.) *diwós yielded
a new analogical nominative in Latin, hence the regularised paradigm (influenced
by re:s) die:s 'day', (Acc.) die:m, (Gen.) die:i:. Traces of *djeu- in its old
shape can be seen in fossilised forms like Iuppiter < Voc. *djeu ph2ter or
(Gen.) Iovis < *djew-es (with analogically restored *-ew-).
Such long and winding tales could also be
told of the Greek and Indo-Iranian reflexes of *dj(e)u-.
Come to think of it, it's remarkable that a
derivative of the PIE word for the sky god survived Christianisation and was
adopted in Latin and Romance as Yahweh's official name.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2001 3:31 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Day and dies, deus and theos
The verbal root "to shine" seems to be *dey-. With a
*w-extension that gives *dy-éw-, *di-w- "heaven". I've seen *déyw-os
"heavenly" explained as vrddhi formation from *dyew-. On the surfae, it
looks as if the *e had been re-inserted "in the wrong place".