Sergei:
>Greek (<�spalos> 'fish' < prothetic a- + *skWalos) and Iranian (Av. <kara->
>'a mythical fish living in RaNha:-', MPers. <kar ma:hi:k> 'a
>mythical giant fish') cognates.
Ugh. This drives me round the bend. Are there any _regular_ cognates
here?
Greek is suspect with the "prothetic" a-, unless one wants to
reconstruct a very absurd *x(s)kWalo- but then this makes the
optionality of the *s very arcane. The Avestan word is also problematic
because of the unusual rhotacism of expected *l.
None of these supposed "cognates" are regular. They just look similar.
Similarity is hardly sufficient evidence. I reject *skWalo-.
- gLeN
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