Re: offer-command-announce-awake-aware-inquire-learn-understand-know

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...> wrote:

>
> At 6:20:28 PM on Thursday, January 8, 2009, Andrew Jarrette
> wrote:
>
> > I've always wondered how the IE root *bheudh- can have
> > such a rich diversity of evolved meanings in the branches
> > in which it survived: "offer, present, announce, command,
> > forbid" in Germanic (and how can it have such unrelated
> > meanings in this branch alone); "awake" in Balto-Slavic
> > and Indic; "be aware" in Indic (not to mention a slightly
> > different Iranian meaning which I currently forget);
> > "inquire, find out, understand, know" in Greek. These
> > meanings all seem so unrelated to each other -- how did
> > they all evolve from a primitive meaning "awake", if that
> > was the original meaning?
>
> Try starting from 'to be aware; to make aware', as Watkins
> does. That gives you 'awake', 'announce', 'command',
> 'understand', and 'know' without any difficulty. From
> 'know' to 'inquire' and 'find out' is a short step, as are
> 'present' from 'announce' and 'forbid' from 'command'.
> 'Offer' is an easy extension of 'present'.
>
> Brian
>

But I don't see how "command" = "make aware" or "be aware", and how
this relates to "present, offer" (and is "present" derived from
"announce", itself from "make known" from "make aware"? Or is
"present" more original from "make something visible for someone" <
"make someone aware of something"? Why don't OHG, ON, or Gothic have
the meaning "announce" for this verb if this meaning was more
original?). But yes I can understand "become aware" > "find out,
learn" > "know" > "understand". It was mainly the Germanic verbs that
gave me difficulty (and still in part do).

Andrew