--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
wrote:
>
> As for the Caland system: I think it's odd that a number of IE
roots
> should have a separate system of suffixes. In a language like
> English, this indicates that the roots, with their suffixes, are
> loaned (eg. from Latin or Franch), perhaps the same is the case in
> PIE (although the donor language may be long gone).
In Indo-European it's the opposite, i.e. the "Caland system" is just
a list of adjective-related formations created early enough to have
undergone a series of old sound changes which did not hit younger
derivations. However, Caland has no business in the formation of
numerals unless the definition is changed (as it apparently
constantly is). In practice, Caland is defined in purely functional
terms which gives it a touch of mysticism that exempts it from
normal procedures of checking. I think it's the closest this field
ever got to voodoo.
Jens