Re: [tied] The "Mother" Problem

> >
> >
> >
> > This brings up an interesting question. The word

for "night",

> > *nokWts, seems to be one of these t-participles. Perhaps

the

> > original meaning was "darkener", from a supposed root
> > *nekW "darken". However, this does not explain the o-

vocalism.

> >
> >
> > No evidence for *nekW-, 'darken'. Of course, it could simply

be

> > an adjective. If I had to guess, it would be related to *nek^-
> > , 'killing' Cf. *nek^u-, 'corpse'. Depalatalization of *k^w

to

> > *kW???
>
> From Sihler's New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, 1995

(p.

> 113):
>
> "For most of the history of IE studies, PIE *nokWt- 'night' was

known

> only in the o-grade (as in Greek nux, Latin noct-, Old High

German

> naht) and possibly as a zero grade in Vedic aktá: 'Night' (the
> goddess) if from *n.kWt-éH2-. However, Hittite ne-ku-(uz-)
> zi /nekWtsi/ 'becomes evening', a root-inflected verb, and ne-ku-

uz

> (me-h.ur) /nekWts/ 'at eventide', reveal actual e-grades for

this

> root, and of great antiquity. Tocharian B nekci:ye 'in the

evening'

> reflects o-grade, but its meaning at least supports the theory

that

> real meaning of PIE *ne/okW-t- to have been 'evening',

not 'night',

> with the further implication that the root *nekW- originally

meant

> something like 'get dark'."
>
> Between 'evening' and 'night' we have only different degrees of

darkness. Clouds make the night "get dark"er. Also, if *ne/okWt- was
_not_ 'night', what was the word for it?

>
> For our ancestors, darkness was the time when the stars, which

were regarded as souls of the dead, became visible. Daytime ghosts
are rare.

>
> > Well, I grant your point on sophistication but I wish we had

an

> > Academie to prohibit ignorant people from writing ''it's"

for 'of

> > it'.
>
> Touché.
>
> - Rob
>
> Patrick
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links

Lith. va~karas (evening), Lv. vakars, Slav. vec^er, wiec^or
(evening), Lat. vesper (evening), gk. vesperoj IE.: *wesper-o-,
*weker-o-, *we(s)kwer-o-?

It's not nescesarry say that nokWt-i-s was evening