Avestan Izha (was Names of god)

From: liberty@...
Message: 9583
Date: 2001-09-19

I just thought of something. Since z^ doesn't occur between vowels
within a word in Avestan but only out of *s after RUKI and when
voiced by the following consonant, then in an unattested dialect of
Avestan the cluster *-Vz^d- could have reduced to -V:z^- and filled
that empty slot without disturbing the system of contrasts (or
whatever it's called). I:z^a: could then be a borrowing from that
dialect.
-David

--- In cybalist@..., liberty@... wrote:
> What? I'm confused! How can the "i" not be long? Doesn't Vedic
> -l.- < -d.- < *-z.d.- < *-z^d- with compensatory lengthening on the
> loss of the *z.? Is the "i" short only in the name of the goddess
or
> is it also short in the term for a libation? If it's short only in
> the name of the goddess then might it be of Dravidian origin and
> unrelated to the Avestan and Sanskrit words for libation? And what
> happened to the "d" in Av. i:z^a:?
> -David
>
> --- In cybalist@..., "Piotr Gasiorowski" <gpiotr@...> wrote:
> > The goddess's name is <il.a:> or <id.a:> (with a short <i>). As a
> common noun, this means "refreshment, comfort", or a libation
> prepared from milk. This is certainly a cognate of Avestan i:z^a:,
> given the complete identity of meaning. The formal relation is not
> quite clear to me.

> > Piotr