Re: [tied] To have and to give

Whatever the minute details, Ruhlen is generally right here: <have> and <habeo> are "false friends".

Latin c (pronounced [k]) reflects PIE *k, which was transformed into Germanic *x (> word-initial h-) by Grimm's Law. The *-p- in *kap- became Germanic *-f-, which was voiced to *-b- (> -b/v- in Old English: habban 'to have') in forms with non-initial stress (Verner's Law).

Grimm's Law is also responsible for *gHebH-

> *geb- (Gothic giban, OE giefan, gifan [jivan]).

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: Håkan Lindgren

To: Cybalist

Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2000 9:00 PM

Subject: [tied] To have and to give

I've just read a paper by Ruhlen where he says that Latin habeo ("have") is not related to English have - as an amateur would take for granted - but to English give - both from an IE root *ghabh- meaning "give, receive". Instead, English have is related to Latin capeo ("take") from the IE root *kap-, "grasp". Is this true? I know that some words with c- in Latin turn out as h- in Germanic languages, e.g. cor, heart; cornu, horn.

Hakan