On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 01:56:02 +0100, Piotr Gasiorowski
<
piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
>The lowest numerals (if "one" is a real numeral) tend to lack "proper" ordinals. The word for "first" usually means, etymologically 'that in front, foremost, earliest', and the word for "second" typically originates as an adjective meaning 'next, another, the other' etc. For these reasons it's normal for the words "one"/"first" as well as "two"/"second" to have different histories and to derive from different roots -- as in English, and as in nearly all my examples.
[cross-posted to cybalist, as this is not about Nostratic]
Russian vtoroj is usually connected to Skt. vítara- "further", English
with, German wieder (Slavic *vItorU). Vasmer mentions (and rejects)
alternative explanations linking the word to *anter- "other" (perhaps
*n.ter- > *vUtorU?) or Latin uter- "which (of two)".
The connection with uter- (*kWu-ter-) can indeed be rejected, but
*anter- keeps looking attractive (cf. Lith. añtras "2nd", Latv. otrs
"2nd"). Pokorny is clearty schizophrenic about it, and links Cz.
úterý "Tuesday" and USorb. wutory "other, 2nd", only, to *anter-
(Slav. *o~ter-), while referring to *wi-(ter-) for vUtorU etc. Is
there a way to link vUtorU in general to *anter-?
=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...