Re: [tied] Origin of Idoeuropean denominal suffixes

_Some_ PIE suffixes or "extesions" do derive from verbs; an obvious example is *-dH- < *-dHh1- (from *dHeh1' 'put, place'), which originated in noun-verb compounds of the type *N-dHeh1- (similarly, perhaps, *-d- < *dh3- or *-h2g^- < *h2ag^- in some cases). Some suffixes resemble known roots, e.g. the present-tense *-neu- can be associated with *nu- 'now' (cf. *newo- 'new'), though in reality it was originally *-n(e)-u- (nasal infix plus root-final */w/, as in *k^leu-/*k^lneu- 'listen'). On the other hand, the nasal infix might be a deictic morpheme ultimately related to *nu.

I don't think, however, that a one-size-fits-all explanation is either possible or desirable. It makes no sense to assume anything about the origin of PIE suffixes that the evidence doesn't suggest. Most suffixes are very simple -- the *-to-/*-no-/*-mo-/*-jo- kind of stuff. The odds that they will be _accidentally_ similar to something or other in Uralic or elsewhere are rather good.

Language may be something that Homo erectus already had a million years ago and more(see last week's news). You can try to trace things back indefinitely, the problem is only that the evidence tapers down to zero at some point.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: <aquila_grande@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 8:44 AM
Subject: [tied] Origin of Idoeuropean denominal suffixes


In IE there is a set for denominal suffixes that derive (mostly
factitive) verbs from nouns; -(i)ske/sko, -io/-ie, -no/-ne, -neu/-
nu, -to/te

Do anyone know something about the origin of these suffixes.

Myself, I thing that they might be petrified verbal stems in compound
verbs containing a nominal stem and then the a verbal stem.

When looking for explanation for old elements, I like to look at
modern languages,and see if I can find mechanisms that may explain
the old phenomenas.

In modern Skandinavian compund verbs consisting of a
nominal/ajectival stem and then the verbal stem is very common.
Espesially the verb gjør-e= to do is often used this way: blid-gjør-e
=to make happy, ren-gjør-e =to clean/to make clean. As these
compounds are used in daily speech, the verb is actually in the
process of becommomg a derivational affixe.

These afixes seem to have two functions in IE: They make denominative
verbs, and they mark verbal aspect/tempus-stems.

If these originally were verbs, they might in a very early period
have been independent words used in the following way:

-Combined with a noun/adjective: Denote a prosess that result in a
state expressed by the noun/adjective.

-Combined with a (infinite) verbal form: Used as auxiliary verbs that
express aspect.



Well, then to think even further: If these and other affixes are old
verbal stems, and the hypothesis that IE and other languages families
have a common ancestor, these affixes might be traced also in uralic
or altaic, either as affixes or as independent verbs.








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