>In sum, the PIE adjectival suffix *-bho- has nothing to do with
>*-bhi. It was a suffix which modified the preceding word (often
>an adjective itself): X-bho- = "X-ish", which explains why in
>Tocharian it is only used as the genitive of a limited number of
>adjectives.

In sum, more assertions and only ONE language at best to prove
your case. Be gone wi'ye >:P

Seriously, *-bho- is indeed related to *bhi. One is derived from
the encliticized MIE *-b� and the other from the postposition
*b�i "by, near, close to"... hence the derivative meaning of "-ish".
This is also how forms in *-m- (< -m� < *m�i "what") and the
*-dha ending of the mediopassive (< *-dh� "one another" <
*dh�i "within, amongst") seen in the 1ps *-mes-dha got their start.

But still, how might we conclusively tell whether the Tocharian
form is derived from *-bhos (an adjectival suffix) or from *-bhyos
(a case suffix). Again, you fail to address this. The only
difference concerns a single semivowel and I can't see how you
can logically rule this possibility out.

>For your information, the injunctive is formally identical to a
>past tense without the augment (�-), like the Greek (Homeric)
>unaugmented past tenses, or like the past tenses everywhere else
>outside the dialectal area where an augment was added (Indo-Iranian,
>Armenian, Greek, Phrygian).

Exactly. These injunctive forms are derivative from the past
forms in *e- with zero-grade root, which are only _dialectal_ in
themselves within the larger IE community. And I'm sure that,
at least originally, the injunctives were preceded by negative *me:,
in opposition to *e-, which has been made into a kind of
affirmative marker.

However, we don't see a zero-graded root, as part of a larger
verbal or nominal paradigm, occuring by itself in a form in
reconstructed IE, as I say. Your IE **bhrom doesn't exist aside
from your dialectal injunctives.

>Neither is the root syllabic in the forms you said were acceptable to
>you (*e-bhr-�m, *bhe-bhr-�m, *bhi-bhr-�m).

Yes, they are syllabic, if viewed properly as: *ebhr-, *bhebhr-
and *bhibhr-. I guess this is where the distinction between "root"
(*bhebhr-), a potentially divisable core component, and "stem"
(*-bhr-), an indivisable core component, needs to be understood.
The _stem_ is nonsyllabic but it doesn't occur paradigmatically
by itself in IE.


- love gLeN


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