From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 20962
Date: 2003-04-12
----- Original Message -----
From: "Abdullah Konushevci" <a_konushevci@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2003 7:11 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: albanian prefix "stër-"
> As I have explained once, labiovelar *kw- gives in Albanian regularly /-s-/.
Only before front vowels (*e, *i) and *j.
> Otherwise, if we see katër `four' we may notice that second part -twer developed in -tër. It can be easy explained, if we get, besides PIE *kwetwer also an synonymic one *kwotwor ...
Unfortunately, since such a form is nowhere attested, one should not assume it so lightly.
> with treating the diphthong /uo/ > /a/ as is treated diphthong /au/ > /a/. PIE *a and *o (I mean short vowels)
both derives in Albanian /a/.
The stem of the numeral 'four' had two main variants in PIE:
(a) *kWetwor- (the corresponding weak form was usually *kWetwr.-, *kWetur- or metathesised *kWetru-)
(b) *kWt[u]wor- (weak forms *kWtwr.-, *kWtur-, *kWtru-).
Both sets of forms were prone to various modifications and analogical restructuring. The initial cluster *kWt- in (b), if not preserved, could lose its initial element (*kWt- > *t-, as in Skt. turi:ya- 'fourth'), receive an epenthetic weak vowel (*kWt- > *kW&t- as in Lat. quattuor or Hom.Gk. pisures) or be remodelled on the analogy of (a). All Albanian forms derive from the *kW&t- variant, which became Proto-Albanian *kat-. The further development was completely regular:
The cardinal:
*kW&twores > *katwar- > katër
The ordinal:
*kW&twr.-to-/*kW&tru-to- > *katurt-/*katrut- > ka(:)tërt-/katrët-
Piotr