Re: [tied] ph3 > b PIE transformation?

On 2006-03-14 02:52, alexandru_mg3 wrote:

> Is ph3 > b a PIE tranformation or it appears independently in
> different languages?

Judging from the wide distribution of *pí-ph3-e/o- > *píb(h3)e/o- (from
Skt. to Lat. to OIr.), it's a proto-thing.

>
> As an example we have
>
> *h2eph3-o-l- > Celtic *ablu => Old Irish ubull
> *h2ph3-l-o- > Slavic *jabl&k& => OCS abl&ko

This is somewhat suspect. There's no guarantee that all instances of
otherwise unmotivated *b go back to *ph3. It's quite possible that *b
was rare rather than non-existent in PIE.

> see also
> *h2ep-h3on- 'river'
>
> Question: could somebody help me with the meaning of the suffix *-
> h3on ? Also if it can be decomposed in h3o-n- or not

There's a lot of evidence that formations with the "suffix" *-h3on- were
in fact compounds. Birgit Olsen has identified the second element as
*h3on(h2)-, from the verb root *//h3enh2-// meaning 'burden, charge' (as
in Lat. onus), so compounds with the corresponding deverbative noun
mean, approximately 'loads of X, a place with a lot of X' (if
endocentric) or 'having loads of X, being burdened with/responsible for
X' (if exocentric).

Piotr