Re: [tied] On do/tun

This is very thin ice indeed. The form of *dHeh1- (in compounds it may even be reduced to *-dHh1- > *-dH-) is extremely uncharacteristic. Anything of the form TE, where T is an apical obstruent ([t], [d], [D], whatever) and E is a(ny) vowel could be regarded as "similar" to *dHeh1 or *dHe:, and TE happens to be the most common syllable template on this planet. The meaning is also inordinately general and flexible. The semantics of 'put' or 'place' can easily be extended in any which direction, and this is indeed what has happened in various IE languages: 'do' (with twenty-odd senses in any middle-sized dictionary), 'confide', 'cause', 'make', etc., etc. Take _any_ language, and you'll find something similar to *dHeh1 with one of the many "right" meanings.

The moral is that it is not wise to _begin_ with items like *dHeh1- when attempting long-range comparison. Their probative value equals zero. If a relationship could be established on other, securer grounds, *dHeh1- might fit somewhere into it.

The quest for superfamilies is not my speciality, but the Basque/Caucasian hypothesis is a passé concept, based on superficial typological analogies (it should be added that the "Caucasian" languages do not form a single genetic grouping).

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: trino88

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2002 6:47 PM

Subject: Re: [tied] On do/tun

Thank you Peter, Miguel, Piotr. You set me up in the proper IE framework and gave me the grasp I didn't have. Still my question was also aimed at a much foggier target,namely the do/tun pre-IE links. I, myself, know of the basque suffix -du/tu, the most important one in that language. I've also come across du/tu in a series of iberian lead tablets, embeded in the text, on 7 occasions and it could well be related with the above mentioned basque suffix.. Since you say the do/tun roots may be traced back to anatolian and caucasian tongues there seems to be little chance that occidental pre- IE had affected IE to the point of having widespread do/tun forewords stemming from old pre-IE..Unless these pre-IE dialects were common in Europe, from East to West. I, personnally, don't favor the caucasian origins of the basque language -too far away and not enough mass of population envolved to convey hte tonge. May I have your comments on all this? May be some other people too have something to say on this slippery grounds. As there are so few firm grips on this matters I encourage the members to give their honnest views on it.