I said:
>>Thus, a singular stem *dek^m- versus a plural stem *k^ont-. I do not need
>>to reconstruct **penkweH- because the length is caused by analogy with the
>>lower decads.
The righteous Migg-ster dude states:
>Which got their length from...?
Hint: The dual.
Miguel doth protest too much saying:
>"Two" as the plural of "one"? Are there any documented cases of such a
>thing? [Maybe the Old Japanese ablaut thing comes close, but that's still
>no plural]. *dwi- is a form found only in >composition. The independent
>form *dwoh3 is a dual, not a plural.
Old Japanese fitotu/futatu still counts as an example of the word for "two"
being derived from the word for "one". Whether it's strictly a "plural
formation" or not is beside the point. There may also be Dravidian *oru/*iru
as a similar example. Then there's this really obscure language known by
only several million people where the word for "one" is /uno/ and the word
for "some" is /uno-s/... but it's an obscure language and I don't expect you
to know it :) So even here, there is a perfect example of the plural being
applied to the numeral "one" to denote a higher number. No big whoop.
As for *dwi-, there is also *dwoiH1, already just mentioned. Secondly,
*dwoH3 is usually written *dwo:u but, whatever.
- gLeN
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