Re: [tied] Re: PIE *y > Gr ?

From: P&G
Message: 33307
Date: 2004-06-28

*y-, *h1y- > *y- > h-
*h2y-, *h3y- > *yy- > *3^- > 3- > zd-

I noticed an interesting comment in Macdonell (who can't be presumed to have
the last word, seeing he publishes in 1916) about:
Greek hos, hagios ~ Skt yas, yaj
Greek zeo, zug- ~ Skt yas (boil) yuj (yoke)
He says "it is probably due to [a] difference of origin that yas (boil) and
yam (restrain) reduplicate with ya in the perfect, but yaj (sacrifice) with
i."

He is suggesting that words with Skt y ~ Gk h- reduplicate in Skt with i,
and words with Skt y ~ Gk z- reduplicate in Skt with ya-.

Unfortunately he seems to be wrong.
Skt yaj Greek hagios seems to be the only root which clearly has this
correspondence of Skt verb in y- ~ Greek word in h-. It is the only one
that clearly reduplicates with i-.

The root ya (go) - parallel to the root i - appears in Greek as eimi,
with h- presumably lost. It reduplicates in Skt as yayau, while the root i
redulicates as iya:ye.

The root yudh (fight) reduplicates as yuyodha, but is probably connected
to Homeric husmi:ni < * *yudh-s-min.

Nonetheless, I found his suggestion interesting.

Peter