Re: [tied] Re: bg. nvEsta

From: Andrey
Message: 20439
Date: 2003-03-28

Is suffix -ist/-ast related to superlative *-isto?
golos (voice) - golosistyj (having loud voice)
glaz (eye) - glazastyj (having big eyes / having good eyesight)
etc

Andrey


*****
> "The newest one" certainly makes more sense than "the unknown" for
"bride". However, does the I.E superlative *-isto show up in Slavic?

Well, it doesn't. One could of course claim that *neve^sta is an
isolated archaic formation, but one additional difficulty is the fact
that in the groups that have it (Germanic, Greek, Indo-Iranian) *-isto-
attaches itself directly to the root without a thematic "buffer", i.e.
*new-isto-, not *newo-isto-. *ne + *woista: (= *woid-ta:) is certainly
more plausible from the formal point of view, especially since
*(iz-)ve^stU 'known' is well attested in Slavic. Cf. also *ve^stI
'news', *ve^stiti 'announce', etc. Perhaps the precise meaning was 'not
officially pronounced married' rather than 'unknown'.

Piotr