Re: [tied] Re: IE prefix "*s"

14-12-03 10:07, P&G wrote:

>> The meaning of "good" from "be" .... is barely sensical,
>
> Yet isn't this actually attested in Sanskrit where Sati (literally "she who
> is") means a good woman?
> The meaning "real, existent" survives: tatha: sati = this being so
> but the meaning "good" is very common for all genders, and it gives one of
> the words for "sage" or "good man".
>
> So perhaps a similar shift in meaning in PIE is not so improbable?

Eng. sooth (< *h1s-ont-) is a cognate. The meanings of 'true/real' and
'good' overlap each other: a true friend = a good friend, for example,
and it doesn't matter greatly whether we gloss *h1su-g^en(h1)es- (etc.)
as 'of a good stock' or 'of a true stock'. As for *wes-, the shift from
'something that remains' to 'stable, lasting, firm, well-established,
reliable' and therefore 'good' in terms of durability or effectiveness
is also easy (hence e.g. *wesu-k^lewes- 'famous, renowned').

Piotr