Re: [tied] All of creation in Six and Seven

From: Glen Gordon
Message: 27155
Date: 2003-11-14

Miguel:
>The gender disagreement in the numbers 3-10 is in fact only apparent. The
>suffix -at(u) is not only a feminine marker, but also a plural/collective.
>The noun being counted is in the genitive plural, so "3 X's" in the
>masculine was:
>
>*Tala:T-at-u X-i:-n

Hmm, thanks, Miguel. The use of a collective for the feminine mirrors the
probable origin of the IE feminine *-ax deriving from an inanimate
collective.
I've also thought about Etruscan and wondered if maybe it too does
something similar -- ie: that it actually has an animate-inanimate gender
system with nouns/names which naturally describe females as sometimes
falling under the inanimate gender. Perhaps this is part of a larger
prehistoric
areal feature to grammatically confuse inanimates and collectives with
feminines?


= gLeN

_________________________________________________________________
STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*
http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcomm&pgmarket=en-ca&RU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca