--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Abdullah Konushevci" <a_konushevci@...>
> To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 11:27 PM
> Subject: [tied] Live and Life
>
>
> > So, we have in Albanian i gjallë `live' and gjellë `jetë' from
PIE *solwo-, compared again with Greek holos `whole'
>
> <gjallë> and <ngjall> 'heal, revive' are so derived by everybody.
The connection you're suggesting looks possible to me, though the
formal details would need to be cleared out. For example, how do you
account for the vocalism of <gjellë>? What kind of derivative is it?
Dictionaries give 'dish, plate' rather than 'meal' or 'life' as the
primary meaning of <gjellë>; is that correct according to native
speakers? If so, the connection is less likely and the likelihood of
a loan from Slavic increases.
>
> PIE *s- > Alb. gj- (when prevocalic) is a safely established sound-
change. Initial sh- for *s- is found in some clusters, especially
*st- > sht- (also when produced by vowel loss: *septm. + *-t- >
*sëtát- > *stat- > shtatë), while *sk-, *sk^- > h-/ç-. In some other
clusters, e.g. *sn-, the sibilant was lost. Another curious (and
somewhat uncertain) change is *sw- > d- (not in *swe, where the
outcome is always v-), as perhaps in *sworgH-eje- 'be ill' > dergjem.
>
> *s- > th- (inasmuch as it occurs sporadically in inherited words)
probably results from dissimilation in words originally containing
two fricatives close to each other, e.g. *su:s 'pig' > thi, or *saus-
n-jo: 'to dry' > thanj ~ thaj.
************
Again, thanks a lot.
From XVI century until XIX the word "gjellë" means always 'life'.
Buzuku (XVI), usually use pair of synonyms gjellë e jetë, until an
Arbëresh author, Nikollë Keta had written the book "Gjella e Shën
Mërisë Virgjër" "The Life of Virgin Mary" (XIX).
Like in Greek bios `life, meal' I believe that also Alb. word has
both meaning from the beginning, loosing later the primary meaning
in battle with much specialized meaning of the word jetë `life'.
Otherwise, the word "jetë" is much related to eternity (cf.
përjetësi, në jetë të jetëve, për jetë e mot, etc.)
As far as I know, Alb. word gjellë `life, meal' has no meaning
of `dish, plate'. Probably it's a mistake, like my mea culpa hepta
instead of hex.
It seems that Alb. e is not derived only from syllabic nasals, but
in an Umlaut context also from a syllabic liquids.
Best regards,
Abdullah Konushevci
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
> ADVERTISEMENT
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.