Re: [tied] PIE Word Formation (2)

----- Original Message -----

From: Piotr Gasiorowski

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 1:33 PM

Subject: Re: [tied] PIE Word Formation (2)

On 2006-03-30 20:06, Patrick Ryan wrote:


>     This is another rather transparent example of the mechanism which I
>     suggested is inherited from the PAA language from which PIE was
>     developed:

In PIE, it isn't the plural but the thematic _collective_ that shifts
the accent. In the lexical layer where accent-shifts cause vowel
reduction we have e/zero alternation in the base, e.g. *wérdH-o-m (Lat.
verbum) vs. coll. *wr.dH-á-h2 (hence Gmc. *wurda- via analogical
generalisation).

***

Patrick:

 

I have already cited the example of animate root nouns which originally had a singular *CVCs as opposed to a plural CVCés.

 

So I still maintain that both nominal and verbal plurality was indicated by shifting the stress-accent one place to the right.

 

The inanimate singular was not formed from the singular root but from the plural/attributive form: *wr.dhé + m, after which the stress-accent was shifted back to the root syllable: *wérdho-m.

 

From the singular *wérdh-, a collective was formed by addition of the suffix -*Há, so that the collective form was *wr.dh-Há(:).

 

There is no such animal as a "thematic collective".

 

***
 

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