--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Abdullah Konushevci" wrote:
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "m_iacomi" <m_iacomi@...> wrote:
>
>> Romanian "pic" `small quantity (of something)` assumed
onomatopoeic.
>> Romanian word "mic" (`small`) and Sicilian counterpart "nicu"
>> (`id.`) related to a Greek word, possibly through a VL intermediate
>> *miccus; also Catalan and Italian "mica" `small quantity, nothing`
(<
>> Lat. "mic(c) a") fit in here.
>> To be noted Romanian "pitic" `dwarf`, correlated by DEX authors
with
>> (OC) Slavic "pitikU", word in fit also with Romances.
>
> I don't know how much these roots could be onomatopoeic or
> expressive, but I know for sure that they have PIE form *mei-
'small'
> (Watkins, *mei-2, Pokorny, *mei-5) and *peig^-/peik^- 'to cut, mark
> (by incision)'.
"For sure" is slightly presumptuous since most entries in Pokorny
#1245
(*mei-5) point towards composite forms with -n-, not with /k/ or /t/.
A discussion around the m-word has is to be found in cybalist
archives,
see e.g.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/28190
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/28224
and your own
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/28200
The m-word has enough credentials for being VL, even without being
specifically attested.
The onomatopoeic or expressive formation is obvious for the p-word
since it reflects the sound of a falling (water)drop; even in Albanian
"pikë" means `drop` (compare with Romanian "picãturã" `id.`, noun
derivative of "a pica" `to fall` < "pic"). A drop of some liquid is
the
smallest quantity appearing in usual life, so semantical evolution is
straightforward from `drop` to `small quantity` then to `small` and
by another extension `(sharp) point`.
Pokorny doesn't mention *peig^/k^. Nor has Demiraj an entry for
any Albanian "pik-" word.
> According to Watkins, this root is treated in satem languages as
> not ending in palatal, but like in pure velar.
Latin is not satem but centum, as well as Celtic & Germanic.
> I remember that this second root was treated in length in Cybalist,
Really?! I made a search, the root *peik^ `paint` was mentioned a
couple of times by Piotr -- see messages:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/21192
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/24396
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/27544
related to *peik^-sko- `fish`, Slavic *pik^-ro- `pied, mottled,
variegated`, and *pIsU, possible ordinary *-o stem < *pik^o-s `dog`.
There is no root with *g^ instead of *k^; maybe you remembered the
message
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/20806 in
which Piotr wrote: "(through *pik- 'to be hostile' + *-ula- or *piku-
'hostile' + *-la-) from PIE *peik(^)- (~ *peig-) 'be hostile, hate'",
but this has nothing to do with our word.
The evolution *peik^> Alb. pikë was exclusively your own proposal:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/21193
reiterated in:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/25917
(heralded by none) and has some semantic difficulties in order to get
`point, drop, small quantity` from `paint` (one can advocate for a
path `paint` -> `painted, coloured` -> `with paint spots` -> `spot` ->
`drop producing the spot` -> `drop` -> `small quantity`, but a basical
meaning `drop` looks much more realistic since a (falling) drop of
paint (or even water, depending on involved surface) naturally creates
a `spot`).
> until first one I am not sure.
I gave the references for m-word.
> I believe that Rom. <pik> 'small quantity (of something)'s can't
> be separated from Alb. <pikë> `'point, drop, small quantity'
Probably not, but that doesn't make any of them a far derivative of
the `paint` root. The onomatopoeic/expressive formation is too easy
recovered at any moment of the story, and the p-word is too Romance
to look for strange derivatives of *peik^.
> as well as Rom. <mic> 'small' from Alb. <micërr> 'trifle', <mickël>
> 'id.', <micërroj> 'to trifle'. I gues[s] that Alb. forms are dubble
> suffixed zero-grade forms *mi-sk-lo > mickël (cf. also <pickoj>
> 'to pinch, to nib'). etc.
By no means one should separate Romanian word from other Romance
words, in the first place. Demiraj says nothing about any "mic-" word,
the first guess is either VL or Greek, languages known to have had
some influence on Albanian.
Regards,
Marius Iacomi