Re: [tied] Re: Slavic *-je/o

On 2006-09-06 21:21, Sergejus Tarasovas wrote:

> EIEC's *kaunos (Gk.(Hes.) kaunós 'bad, evil', Goth. hauns 'humble',
> Latv. kàuns 'shame, disgrace', if belongs here, Lith. placename
> Kau~nas).
>
> Sl. lê^vU (c), Gk. laiós -- no Hirt, therefore, according to your
> formulation if Hirt's Law, no *a:i.
>
> Possibly EIEC's *mai- (Goth. G. pl. maile 'wrinkle', OE ma:l 'spot',
> Lith. pl. mie~le:s, Latv. mìeles 'yiest'), if Gk. miaíno: 'stain,
> sully' belongs here).
>
> Probably Lat. paucus 'little', Gk. paûros 'little', if Lith.
> pau~ks^tis 'bird' belongs here (for the semantic development cf. the
> etymology of Sl. pUti"ca).
>
> Lat. scaevus, Gk. skaiós, Lith. kai~ras (4) 'left'.
>
> Lat. taurus, Gk. taûros 'bull', Lith. tau~ras 'aurochs', Sl. tûrU (c).

Wow, it's an impressive bunch of counterexamples (and, at the same time,
nice examples of non-laryngeal *a). No *aW > *a:W, then, so the acuted
diphthongs _are_ special in some way. My best guess is still *-auh- etc.
rather than *-ah2u-, which would probably have evolved into *-a.u-,
non-acute after contraction (cf. *náh2u-s 'boat' > RV náus., which could
still scan as disyllabic).

Piotr