Re: Comparative Notes on Hurro-Urartian, Northern Caucasian and Indo

From: Andrew Jarrette
Message: 60429
Date: 2008-09-27

> =========
> It's interesting to discuss each word one by one.
> But it's quite impossible to assess these words
> without some macro-comparison with the rest of the world.
>
> What is the word for "to plough/plow" you are thinking of ?
>
> Arnaud
> ===========
>

The *arH- root (*H2erH3, I believe), as in Latin <aro:> "I till,
plow, cultivate", Greek <aróo:> "I plow, till", MIr <airim> "I plow",
OHG <eren>, OE <erian>, ON <erja> etc. "to plow", Lith <ariù> "I
plow", OCS <orjõ> "I plow", together with Arm <arawr> "plow", Toch
<a:re> "plow", Lat <ara:trum> "plow", MIr <arathar> "plow", Greek
<áratron> "plow", ON <arðr> "plow", OCS <ralo> (Pol <radl/o>) "plow",
etc. (these all from Pokorny, under *ar(&)-). Absent from Indo-
Iranian, as are many European-IE agricultural terms (explained by
some as due to the Indo-Iranians' origin from those Indo-Europeans
who were pastoralists on the eastern steppes east of the Caspian or
thereabouts).

I am not well-informed about the Stone Age and its divisions, I
didn't know that agriculture has been limited to the Neolithic, since
ca. 8000 B.C. (nor do I know the reason for this -- and I am
personally a little skeptical of the reliability of archaeology).
Although I have supported you in your idea that PIE is much older
than conventionally supposed (although my reasons are different, I
think) nevertheless 8000 B.C. sounds reasonable as a possible genesis-
time for PIE to me at least (most will say later than that, right?).

AJ