Re: [tied] Proto-Indo-European WITCH

19-08-03 12:48, tgpedersen wrote:

> ... Aren't some geminates supposed
> to be the result of hypochoristic short forms of long personal names?
> Does that extend to nouns in general?

Not in general, but possibly to diminutives.

> Is it derived from a causative *weik^-ye/o- "make yield"/"make weak"?

The correct PIE causative of *weik^- would have been *woik^eje/o-,
yielding PGmc. *waigjan- (Verner's Law applies in these formations). Its
reflexes are indeed attested: OE wæ:gan, OHG weigen 'to trouble, afflict'.

Piotr