[tied] Re: Kabardian antipassives

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, enlil@... wrote:

>
> Morten:
> > Perhaps the first syllable "Zi-" is an onomatepoeia and means or

is

> > connected to breathe/breath?
>
> Or maybe you need to get more familiar with Etruscan and what is

known

> about it. Granted, many things are not translated to 100%

satisfaction

> but Etruscan doesn't even have prefixes nor is it related to

Sumerian.

Me to Glen: Sorry Glen, you misunderstood me. I've never proposed
that "zi-" is a prefix, neither have I meant etruscan to be related
to sumerian, english or norwegian. I just pointed out that there are
onomatepoeia related to the meaning breathe in the three languages.

> You can't just say anything you wish about the language ignorantly

like

> you can for Minoan and get away with it.

Me to Glen: I don't know if I understand you correct, but I've never
written anything about Minoan.

>
> The word /fler/ is known to mean 'offering' or something very

similar.

> It is evidently an inanimate noun because it has an inanimate plural
> /fler-cHva/. Animate plural nouns are marked with -er, for your

info,

> and normally describe living things. A counterexample might

be /spurer/

> instead of *spurcHva but then again, a 'city' is a collection of

living

> things, nej?
>
> The word /zivas/ means "living" and even has an oft-encountered

suffix

> -as. We know it to roughly correspond to English -ing... Although I

would

> like to call it a 3ps 'aorist', myself.
>
> There's some good info on Etruscan grammar as we _actually_ know it

from

> this link:
>
> http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~classics/Chap4.pdf
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------

-----

>
> That being said now, where do we find a sequence /fler zivas/?

Something

> must be missing in that phrase. The sequence would mean "The gift is
> living." Rather odd. I'd expect that "living gift" would be better
> translated as */fler zivana/.
>
>
> = gLeN