Re[2]: [tied] Re: IE prefix "*s"

From: Brian M. Scott
Message: 28425
Date: 2003-12-13

At 7:27:13 AM on Friday, December 12, 2003, Piotr
Gasiorowski wrote:

> The *-u- in *h1(e)su- is an PIE adjectival stem formant,
> not part of the root, so the morphological division is
> really *h1es-u-. I wouldn't rule out a connection with
> *h1es- 'to be', given that the other adjective meaning
> 'good' is *wesu-, as if from *wes-. If this is a
> coincidence, it's a very odd one, though the semantic side
> of the connection isn't clear to me (apart from the fact
> that most people find it better to be than not to be).

Watkins's suggestion that the connection in the former case
is 'being true, being good' doesn't seem unreasonable
semantically. Not utterly compelling, but not unreasonable.

Brian