Re: Germanic preterite optative

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:

>
> What is the origin of the Germanic strong preterite optative endings,
> corresponding to Gothic <be:rjau, be:reis, be:ri, be:reima, be:reith,
> be:reina>, OHG <ba:ri, ba:ri:s, ba:ri, ba:ri:m, ba:ri:t, ba:ri:n>?
> The obvious source is the IE athematic present optative, which like
> most of the Germanic forms has zero grade, but I don't understand
> why a present-tense form should become a preterite form. Is there
> an explanation for this shift of tense, if indeed this is the true
> origin of the Germanic strong preterite optative?

I have only a rleated question: Did PIE optative have a "tense"?

Along the same lines, both Szeremenyi and Beekes (in their handbooos)
who are often quite at oppositve ends, suggest that PIE moods were
originally formed directly from the root and were not based on
"tense/apsect stems". How prevelant is this opinion?

Nath Rao