Re: [tied] Re: Modern Greek patronymic suffix -POULOS

You've got a point, Mr Advocatus Diaboli. (pre-)Slavic *-uka- could substitute early NE Iranian *-aká, just as *sUto '100' may reflect *satá (note, by the way, that in both cases the retained voicelessness of the stops suggest a fairly old, say, "Scythian" date of borrowing). It might be an areal thing. Other suffixes of foreign origin are known to have been adopted and employed productively by the Slavic speakers, so who knows? Iranian influence may have strengthened and modified an inherited pattern of diminutive formation.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: <S.Tarasovas@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 02, 2003 11:25 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Modern Greek patronymic suffix -POULOS


--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:

>> I agree native origin is more likely. The connecting vowel before
*-k- is *I or *U (< *i, *u) in Slavic, as opposed to *a, which
predominates in Iranian (*-aka-), the Baltic connection supports the
Balto-Slavic status of the suffix (which is widespread in IE anyway),
and I know of no facts that are better explained by assuming its
foreign origin.

On the other hand, a devil's advocate would argue that (a Northeast
Iranian reflex of) Iranian *-aká- could well be acoustically
perceived as *-Uka- or even *-Ika- by the Proto-Slavs. The oldest
examples of *-uk- and *-(e:)i(:)k- in Balto-Slavic point to *u- and
*i-stems extended with the *-k(o)-, the development of the
independent suffixes *-uk- and *-ik- being a later innovation,
probably spread from Periferal (Pre-Slavic) Baltic into Central (pre-
East Baltic) Baltic and probably triggered by some external --
Iranian -- influence, an unstressed Iranian *-a- being associated
with Periferal Baltic *u and *i (*i seemes to function as a schwa in
Baltic at least in some cases). Iranian influence would also explain
why it's the null-grade variant (*-ik-, and not, say, *-eik-) that
has become so productive in Balto-Slavic.

;)

Sergei


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