Re: [tied] Vrddhi in sigmatic aorist

On Wed, 31 Oct 2001 20:35:01 -0000, "P&G" <petegray@...>
wrote:

>> I still haven't got those damn aorist figured out yet...
>
>I don't think you're alone. I find Szemerenyi's explanation for the long
>vowel very odd. If the vowel length were simply from the insertion of -s-
>after a resonant, we would expect Sanskrit stems in -i to produce a
>long -i:s in the aorist,

I don't follow. If a from like *bher-s-s [CeR-s-s] gives *bhe:rs(s)
[Skt. bha:r], then a form like *ney-s-s [ReR-s-s] should give
*ne:ys(s) [Skt. nais].

>but they don't, they give us -ais- / -es. Likewise
>stems in -u give -aus- /-os. (These of course are long and short a + i,
>long and short a + u in Skt) Examples:
> stem ni: = lead
> aorist 4: anaisi:t, nesati

The forms in -i:s, -i:t are secondary (after roots ending in *-H).
The original forms were (ind.aor.act.) h1e-ney-s-t > h1e-ne:y-st,
(subj.aor.act.) *ney-s-e-t(i), with normal grade.

> stem pru: = flow
> aorist 4 prostha:s
>
> stem stu = praise
> aorist 4: astausi:t, stosat, etc.

The stem stu- (and many others ending in -u) are "Narten-presents",
which means that they have vr.ddhi instead of gun.a, and gun.a instead
of zero grade even outside of the sigmatic aorist.