[tied] Re: Dissimilation of gW/kWVw to gVw/kVw

>
> For the relation between diminutive and feminine, cf. Dutch
> mens "person", mensje "(old) woman" etc.; Afro-Asiatic *-at-
> feminine, diminutive and singulative suffix.

But 'mens' used to be 'mensch' so it's already a diminutive. Cf.
German 'Mensch' m. "person", 'Mensch' n. "horrible old woman".

To add to the confusion: Danish 'menneske' "person" n., but
Swedish 'människa' f. "person" (lexically it's common gender, but
always referred to with 'hon' "she". Feminists, rejoice).


Torsten