Re[2]: re [tied] Water, pre/postpositions, somewhat OT

At 2:52:12 PM on Sunday, June 6, 2004,
enlil@... wrote:

> Miguel:

>>>And yet, one says "he has a roof over his head" (aka "he
>>>has a home to live in").

>> That doesn't make "roof" synonymous with "house".

> Metaphorically, I'm afraid it does in almost any language.

Metaphorically substitutable (in one direction) and
synonymous are two rather different things. 'He stormed out
of the roof and slammed the door' and 'At least you have a
house over your head' don't quite work.

> The step between them is a small one.

In one direction, anyway.

>> If you're talking about *(s)teg-, then clearly you
>> haven't looked at the cognate set of the root. It doesn't
>> mean "shelter" anywhere, so there is no basis for
>> claiming if meant "specifically" shelter.

>> The original meaning was "to cover":

> ... which is identical to "to shelter".

No, it isn't. They are closely related and to some extent
overlap, but they are certainly not identical. And since
the original question was (if I remember correctly) why the
Basque word had to be borrowed from Celtic and not some
other branch, the specific attested senses are relevant.

Brian