Re: [tied] The "Mother" Problem

On 05-01-24 09:57, petegray wrote:

> As for the formation of the two stems, a theory I find interesting is that
> the -ter affix, used for things in opposed pairs, was added to the root for
> "looking after" (peH) which we find in Latin pa:sco and elsewhere. Since it
> was stressed, the root appeared as zero grade: pHter. This was then
> re-interpreted as p-Hter, and the new "suffix" -Hter was added elsewhere to
> make the family words (ma-Hter, bhra-Hter, dhug-Hter, etc). But this theory
> doesn't explain why the accent was moved back.

If *ph2ter- = *pah2- + *-ter- 'protector', and if nursery terms for
'daddy' such as *appa and/or *pa(p)pa existed independently, the
resegmentation of the word as *p-h2ter- is understandable in terms of
folk-etymology.

PIotr