ponaryad@...:
>The same rule (deletion of *i before *á-) also explains the
>feminine forms:
Ugh. Let's end the madness now. As far as I see, the feminine
was simply *-ah2, a "thematized" variant of inanimate *-h2,
used in collectives. So the feminine ending was at one time
merely to convey a human collective. This is much simpler,
and it's more in line with Anatolian which lacks the feminine.
The ending *-ih2 is a composite of *-i- and feminine. That's
all. We see the two variants side-by-side. So we don't need
(nor does it work) to apply i-deletion rules randomly to
solve anything. There was no i-deletion; The *i just wasn't
there to begin with in the places where we don't see it.
Why it's elementary, my dear Watson.
ponaryad@...:
>*bi:re "wolf" ~ wlkWo- "wolf"
I can say confidently that this has to be a red herring.
I'd much rather shape my understanding of the sound
correspondences of two languages on pronominal stems and
the like first before delving into the expansive vocabulary
surrounding the grammatical items. If you just compare any
word together without paying attention to the grammatical
details, you can connect anything with anything.
The interrogative pronouns would suggest that IE *kW
corresponds to Altaic *k. Therefore if IE *wlkWo-
were to exist in Altaic, one would expect *k in it.
However, analysis within IE discounts such a connection too.
The stem *wlkWo- with accent on the initial is most likely
a nominal derivative of a descriptive adjective *wlkWó-.
It is such an adjectival form whose accent and ablaut are
more in line with each other. Due to this greater alignment,
it is the adjectival form that is probably older, thereby
eroding any possibility of finding a nearby cognate in
Altaic, Uralic or Tyrrhenian. You'd have an easier time
with *kwon- "dog".
>*beta "sea; ford" ~ *wet- "water"
Again, a red herring. Uralic *wete = IE *wodr (more or
less). The heteroclitic ending *-r was attached to the
o-grade of *wed- "to moisten" in IE. Hence "that which
moistens". In Uralic, it is the bare stem. Thus IE *w
<=> Uralic *w.
>*bedu "thick, large" ~ *weto- "old"
A very suspect connection. The phonetics are divergeant
and so too are the meanings. Again, it would be better
to start with small grammatical words first like pronouns.
We see from it that Altaic *b <=> IE *m/*bH.
= gLeN