Re: Mitanni and Matsya

On 2008-04-05 23:50, Francesco Brighenti wrote:

> Others (M. Mayrhofer, A. Lubotsky) reconstruct _two_ laryngeals for
> this PIE root:
>
> OIA uru- 'wide, broad, extended, spacious' < PIIr. HurHu- < PIE
> h1urH-u- (/H/ = an undetermined laryngeal).
>
> S. Nikolayev (in the Starling databases) has PIE *(e)w[e]r-
> 'wide,broad'.
>
> Is the reconstructed <*h1> due to the Greek form with initial <e>?

Yes, the question is only whether the root really contained two
laryngeals or there was some sort of metathesis in Greek in the
adjective *wr.h1-ú- or, perhaps more plausibly, generalised from one of
the related forms such as the abstract noun *werh1-e/os- 'breadth,
space' (Skt. váras- but Gk. eûros).

Piotr