Re: [tied] Thematic root aorist

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:

>
> On 2006-07-19 18:46, Andrew Jarrette wrote:
>
> > But why
> > is the possibility of an independent IE aorist formation with
> > thematic vowel and zero grade completely rejected?
>
> Because the comparative evidence for such a formation has evaporated.
> It's just possible (but by no means certain) that a few such forms were
> recognised as aorists already in PIE, but there's little doubt that the
> entire <ávidat> type is secondary. So is the <tudáti> type, its
> counterpart among the present stems, though verbs of this type are
> somewhat better attested. Perhaps some original root aorists tended to
> be thematised as presents (punctual meanings are common among the
> <tudáti> type).

I remember reading that the tudati type is occurs much more frequently
as injunctives in RV, rather than with primary endings. That would
suggest that (1) tudati was a replacement for tudat as the
injunctive went out of use and (2) this type may have gotten started
(as injunctives/aorists) even in PIE times.

But, (2) needs to be tempered by the fact root forms being
thematized in avidat/tudati type was still going on in Sanskrit.
[My gut feeling is that this was to avoid clusters of stops,
which were drastically simplified in the MIA stage.]

Nath Rao