Re: [tied] PIE nit, louse's egg

> From: "Joăo S. Lopes Filho" <jodan99@...>
> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 10:00:44 -0300
>
> Louse in Latin is pedis ( diminutive pedic(u)lu in Romance), which
> must be <*pezdhi-. cf. Avestan pazdu- "kind of insect" (*pezdhu-)
> and Greek phtheiros (*pzdh-erio- or *pzdhei-ro or *pzdhw-erio-).

Sorry for the stupid question, but my Gk. dictionary gives the word
as _phtheir_ (gen. phtheiros). How would it be then with the
derivation?

And, BTW, both Pokorny and Watkins seem to derive Lat. pedis from
*pezd- "to fart". I would like the idea of *pezdh- being assimilated
to *pezd- in some of the languages. But is the Gk. phtheir really
enough to argue for *pezdh-? Couldn't it rather be Gk. that changed
the original root for some special reason?

P.S.