Re: [tied] Words with nucleus *-eu- & *-ou-

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 42374
Date: 2005-12-02

Abdullah Konushevci wrote:

> 1) tym n. m. `smoke', probably from *dhu:-mo (*u: > Alb. /y/).
> Dialectal form <tim>: Sl. <dim>: Lat. fumus.

I don't think *dH- > t- is possible. Isn't this an ancient loan from
Greek? The derivatives of <tHu:mos> show that its original meaning was
'smoke', and the phonetics would fit.

> 2) krim > krym `worm' <*kWr.mi `id.' (i > y as a result of
> bemolization of following /m/)

This is the standard etymology of <krimb>. I don't know much about the
dialectal rounding of Alb. /i/ in the vicinity of labials, but such a
change would be unsurprising from the phonetic point of view. But why do
you place this item among "words with *-eu- & -ou-"?

> 3) brumë n. neuter `duff, dough, pasta' from *bhrus-mo, suffixed zero-
> grade form of PIE root *bhreus- `to swell'

It should be something related to Germanic *brauda- anyway, though the
details are not very clear.

> 9) *dheub-/*dheubh- `deep, hollow' > Alb. <det> `sea', probably from
> suffixed form *dheub-eto > det: Eng. depth, deep etc.

Again, a well-known standard etymology.

> 12) *gWou- `bull' > Alb. <ka> `ox, bullock': Lat. bovus: Greek bous;

The suggestion is made by Demiraj and by the EIEC, but the initial /k/
is a serious obstacle, although the vocalism of <ka> (def. kau, pl. qe)
is compatible with that of *gWou-. I've seen attempts to derive it via
*kar(v)- from the same preform as Polish karw (< *kUrvU) 'ox' and OPr.
curwis, which would have to be something like *k^r.h2-wo- with the
non-satem development of *k^ (as in BSl. *kárva: 'cow') -- a lexical
peculiarity shared by Albanian and Balto-Slavic? a borrowing from a
common source?

> 14) *k'leu – `to hear' > Alb. <qaj>, Geg form <k-jaj>, Tosk <qaj>,
> both from klaj <*klou-n-yo: Gmc hlustjan: kleiein `to tell, praise':
> Sl. slušati: MPer sro:d.

Another widely accepted etymology, whatever the details.

> 18) *leuH- `to wash' > Alb. <laj> `id.', probably from <lanj<*louH-n-
> yo: Gr. louein, Lat. lavere: Gmc laugo:-;

Ditto.

> 24) *reudh- `red, ruddy' > Alb. <f-ruth> `measles', <delja
> rude> `sheep with red spots around the eyes'; also in patronymics
> Pruth < pë + ruth `with red spots in the face';
> ndryshk/nryshk `rust', probably from extended lengthened zero-grade
> form *ru:dh-s-ko : *: Gmc *raudaz: Lat: robus: Gr. eruthros;

Looks OK to me.

> 26) tredh `castrate', probably from basic form of root *treud- `to
> squeeze', but suffixed (stative) form *trud-e: > trydh (u > y if
> followed by /e:/) in <n-drydh> `clench, surpress', <sh-
> trydh> `squeeze out'; trus `to press', but <trysni> (u > y is result
> of i-Umlaut), from suffixed form *trud-yo

Etymological dictionaries usually relate <tredh> to *treud-. The first
of your umlaut rules seems ad hoc to me; there must be a different
explanation.

I have skipped many of your items, since I have little to say about
them. Too often the semantic connection with a known IE root is loose
and the form of the Albanian word is ambiguous in terms of possible
etymologies.