Torsten:
>I thought that was so. So how does that prove that the "seven" word
>originated in Semitic and not somewhere else?
I will only answer if you promise to have your cup of java in your hand and
have drunk at least three sips. Have you done it? Ready? Feeling alive now?
Here we go.
As was already said, *septm is an _indivisable_ root in IE. It is simply not
made up of smaller IE morphemes. There is no **sep-, **sept-, or *se-.
It's simply a single, atomic word meaning "seven".
There _is_ a Semitic form meaning exactly "seven" that parallels IE. This
form is *sab`atum. But it happens to be the masculine, mimated form
of the numeral. It _can_ be divided into smaller meaningful parts with
main root *sab`-.
This shows painfully clear, unless your name is the contrary Mr Torsten,
that *septm can be nothing but a Semitic numeral. It can only
be divided into Semitic, not IE, morphemes. Ergo, it's a Semitic loan.
= gLeN
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