*dHeH- > "do"

From: gprosti
Message: 69990
Date: 2012-08-27

Hello,

My understanding is that the root *dHeH- "put" has developed the meaning "do" in three branches (Germanic, Italic, Slavic), possibly more.

Is this semantic development thought to have preceded the divergence of these branches (or to have spread into each branch from a single development), or is it thought to be independent in each branch?

If we assume that it was an independent development, I have two more questions:

1) In Slavic, is it thought that the meaning "do" developed in the root verb (*de^-), or in the derivative *de^l- (as in Russian <delo> "deed")?

2) Is there any evidence of this development in North Germanic apart from the derivative seen in (Old) Icelandic <dáð> "deed"?

Thanks