At 5:38:55 AM on Wednesday, September 10, 2003, tgpedersen
wrote:
> I recall German (etc.) 'arm' "poor" and *orbH- "orphan;
> inheritance" are related, but how? *H1er- "separate" plus
> two different extensions or *-bH-n- > *-m- ?
Watkins gives (with some emendation) *h3erbH- 'to change
allegiance, pass from one status to another', with reflexes
meaning 'orphan(ed)', 'inheritance', and in Hittite a word
used of a cow that wanders out of its owner's fold into
another's. According to the references available to me at
the moment the connection of German <arm> (OE <earm>, Gothic
<arms>, ON <armr>, etc.) with this root is uncertain, the
laryngeal doesn't agree with either of the 'separate' roots.
Brian