Hooray! I finally found it in an online Sanskrit dictionary. The word comes
up as /yabh-/. From Piotr's round-about explanation, I had a feeling it
meant "to have sexual intercourse", and so it does!
So honestly, does this mean that an IE verb *yebh- should be listed as part
of our known IE vocabulary, even though authors still in this day and age
shy away from these important terms? Why must we be so Victorian about this
subject? Haven't we learned anything from Dr Ruth :)
Of course, there are... well, um... okay, I'll just come out and say this...
There are many different ways of having "sexual intercourse". Is this term
supposed to have a specific oral, anal or vaginal connotation? Or is this
just a general term for any sexual act? Sorry for making people blush, but
if this is a valid IE term why not discuss it? Afterall, one of the things
that I admit to being interested in about the IE language (and what is
seldom discussed with seriousness) is the attitude that its speakers might
have had towards sex and sexuality, especially in connexion to their
patriarchal society and religion.
- gLeN
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