Re: The meaning of life: PIE. *gWiH3w-

From: Patrick Ryan
Message: 52806
Date: 2008-02-12

----- Original Message -----
From: "fournet.arnaud" <fournet.arnaud@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 6:00 AM
Subject: Re: Re: [tied] Re: The meaning of life: PIE. *gWiH3w-


>
>
> From: Patrick Ryan
>
> I resist equations like *r > *d/t or vice versa because it opens Pandora's
> box to all kinds of less productive intellectual hapax legomena (not
> really
> but you get the idea).
> My ingrained defense reaction to idle speculation.
> Patrick
> =============
> Your right
> but I'm afraid of it
> in Families where it is attested.
>
> Example :
>
> Semitic w_l_d "(male) child < *uld.
> Originally a vowel *u (not *w)
> As proved by
> Finnish ürkkä "(male) child"
>
> *uld
> Change 1 : PU *l > yod
> *ujd
> Change 2 : PU *d > r
> *ujr
> Change 3 : Proto-Finnish uj > *ü
> hence
> ür-plus suffix kkä
>
> Linear.
>
> Arnaud
> ===================

***

Can you be sure the Finnish form is not derived from something like
*wir-ko-, 'little man'?

After starting my present HS (Afrasian) project, I feel I have a better
handle on what was going on there. I would not be a bit surprised to find
that w-l-d was an attempt to create a triliteral out of *l-d; and that this
"root" might have a PIE cognate in a word like English 'lad'.


Patrick

***