Re: [tied] Tante Qualle

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Glen Gordon" <glengordon01@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > Sergei:
> > >Greek (<áspalos> '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-.
> >
> >
> >
> That prothetic a- reminds me of Schrijver's 'language of bird

names'.

> I'll go check.

"... it had a prefix a- which was probably stressed and accompanied
by syncope of the vowels in the rest of the word; ther language had
fricatives such as x, ð, and it had a diphthong alien to Germanic and
Celtic, something like [a&], which was rendered as a in British
Celtic and ai in Germanic."

Torsten