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

On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 20:12:08 +0000, P&G <petegray@...> wrote:

>>>I was wondering if the original pattern wasn't something like **sab(a)túm
>>
>>>*septm.', without a stress shift.
>
>>No. ...Stress on the
>>last syllable was possible in Semitic if the vowel was long, but not
>>otherwise.
>
>This is not the case in Classical Hebrew, where an accented syllable may
>have a short or long vowel, in closed or open syllable. The pattern you
>suggest is commonest, but accented short final vowels do occur, eg
>/te:ra:e'/ (Gen 1:9), /thye'/ (Ezek 23:32) /ama'r/ (passim) /&Se'r/
>(passim).
> Admittedly, this is attested somewhat later than the period of a
>borrowing from Semitic into IE. So just how sure are we of your rule in
>earlier Semitic?

Hebrew has lost final (short) vowels, so penultimate accent becomes final.

To return to the word for "7", the Semitic reflexes would seem to suggest
accentuation on the second syllable *sab`átu, in view of the reduction of
the first -a- to /i/ in Hebrew s^ib`a: (besides s^ab`a:), Aramaic s^ib`a:,
and to /ä/ in Amharic säbatt.

=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...