Odp: So be it

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 419
Date: 1999-12-05

 
----- Original Message -----
From: Gwydionash@...
To: cybalist@egroups.com
Sent: Saturday, December 04, 1999 3:30 PM
Subject: [cybalist] So be it

Off the wall question, but: Could someone tell me how you could say the phrase "So be it" in PIE (by listing the PIE)? And would the formation be limited to using an imperative or could you use a subjunctive form so that it would mean something like "let it be so"?
 
There were at least two ways of putting that: (1) using an imperative form of *hes- 'to be', (2) using an optative (not a subjunctive!).
 
(1) *hes-to:t or *hes-tu 'it shall be (so); let it be (so)' (*esto:t/estu if you prefer a traditional reconstruction without any laryngeals) -- a straightforward order or (I think) fatalistic acceptance;
 
(2) *hs-jeh-t 'may it be (so)' (*sije:t) -- a wish for the future;
 
A bare verb for would probably have sufficed, but it could also be strengthen by various particles: the Greek optative is usually introduced by eithe, ei gar or ei 'would that; if only' when expressing a wish (< IE exhortative *hei 'come! ...') , and Lithuanian te- occurs in a similar function.
 Also, just wanted to add my own thought on the subject of PIE Sun Gods and Goddesses: I see two different solar deities in PIE religion. The first is a Sun God proper that is a personification of the sun and related to the physical object called the "sun". The second is a Sun Maiden that is not as directly related to the sun as a physical object but is associated with the healing powers of the sun sometimes in the form of water (thermal springs). This is based mainly on Celtic and Balto-Slavic evidence, but also on Vedic evidence. Just my 2 cents worth.
Chad, what do you mean by Balto-Slavic evidence? I can't see anything like a Sun Maiden on the Slavic side.
 
Piotr