29-04-2004 16:00, Miguel Carrasquer wrote:
> Thanks. I'm a bit surprised by the proposed origin of -o...
>
> Anyways, Albanian a- > 0- (Lat. ami:cu > mik) makes the
> Albanian form undecisive about the Anlaut (the proposed IE
> reconstruction *h2awito- can also be *h2wito-, or *h2weito-).
> The *-t- is certainly very interesting...
I wouldn't be so sure about the *-t-. Cimochowski discusses a whole
collection of Albanian terms for pigeons. He quotes <videzë> 'wood
pigeon, ringdove' and <vidhezë> (originally diminutives), <vitó, vitója>
(f.); <vidó>; Geg <vidâ, vidani> (m., with the suffix -an- of Slavic
origin); and North Geg <vidhë>. The most likely prototype for all this
variation is *vid, typically accompanied by the exclamatory particle
mentioned by Sergei (cf. biró/bir 'son', djaló/djalë 'boy', vashó/vashë
'girl'). The variant with /-t-/, as often in Albanian, results from the
generalisation of final devoicing.
Frankly speaking, since the wood pigeon hardly qualifies as a bird par
excellence, the true reason why the Albanian word is added to the etymon
of 'avis' is superficial similarity. I don't exclude the possibility
that a connection exists, but it's far from self-evident. To quote
Cimochowski, "Il reste complètement obscur, pourquoi le nom primitif de
l'oiseau en général aurait du se spécialiser justement dans ce
territoire comme le nom du pigeon."
Piotr