On 2006-01-25 11:38, tgpedersen wrote:
> And BTW how come the very early PIE compounds *ni-zd- "nest", *o-zd-
> "branch" both have to do with birds, not just "sit"?
The analysis of *h(2/3)osd- as *ho-sd- is a little suspect: it
presupposes the existence of a hypothetical PIE preposition with an
uncertain meaning, reflected as *ho- in this word and not doing much
other useful work elsewhere. There's no necessary connection with birds
in this case, anyway, even if the analysis is correct. A branch may be
viewed as "sitting" on a tree trunk or a larger bough itself, as well as
being perched upon.
Piotr