[tied] Re: IE right & 10

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "petusek" <petusek@...> wrote:

> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, enlil@... wrote:
> > > Petusek:
> > > > Well, the semantic motivation might be opposite. Do you

think, we

> > > > could start with *dek^- , "to reach" [...]
> >
> > > There is
> > > no suffix *-m except for the accusative and this just doesn't

make

> > > sense on a numeral at all, especially when undeclined. I think
> > we'll
> > > just have to accept that *dekm can't be broken down in IE

itself...

>
> Perhaps, we Blazek reconstructs two basic forms: *dek^M° and

*dek^Nt°

But the Baltic forms (Lithuanian _s^im~tas_, Latvian _sìmts_) argue
that the assimilation did not happen in PIE. That brings us back to
*dek^mt, of which *dek^m can easily be a reduction. I still think
*dek^mt could be a zero-grading reduction of *dek^ + *met. I
suppose a meaning of that might be 'full measure', though I prefer
the idea of 'right-hand measure'.

Richard.