--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "mkelkar2003" <smykelkar@...> wrote:
> He will do that when the IEL consider the full declension of nru:
>
> "IE linguists comment profusely on nara but hardly even bother to
> consider the full declension of nr. Yet here we have a paradonxical
> situation. If nara is older than nr (or nr is an Indoaryan innovation,
> or whatever else, but definitely, but, in any case, not earlier than
> nara), we should find in RV more compounds with nara-as first member
> than compounds with nr (Kazanas, 2004),"
>
> <http://www.omilosmeleton.gr/english/documents/SPIE.pdf>
What is the problem? The base form of the PIE word is *h2ner, zero
grade *h2nr. In Sanskrit this whould give vr.ddhi _na:_, gu.na _nar_,
zero grade nr..
Declension ( source: Monier-Williams, available at
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0500/mw__0561.html ):
n.s. na: No problem.
Strong cases
acc.s.: náram, nva. du.: nára:/nárau, nv. pl.: náras
Weak cases, pre-vocalic
Gen/abl. s.: náras
Loc s.: nári
Gen. pl.: nará:m, nr.n.a:m or nr.:n.a:m (No information on
accentuation of last two)
Weak cases, pre-consonantal
Ins. pl.: nr.'bhis/nr.bhís
Dat/Abl pl: nr.'bhyas/nr.bhyás
Loc pl: nr.'s.u/nr.s.ú
Acc pl: nr.':n
Derived thematic stem _nára-_. Pokorny, for example, assumes that the
athematic form is the original form - "Ai. nár- (ná:) 'Mann, Mensch',
av. nar- (na:) ds. (ai. nara-h., av. nara- nach dem Akk. náram, nar@...
neugebildet)", and I would be surprised if anyone thought differently.
Looking at the dictionary, I get the impression that the Sanskrit
declension may have be a bit suppletive, with the thematic usually
used for the nominative/vocative singular.
What aspect of the declension of athematic _nar-_ merits explanation?
(I can imagine gLeN chanting 'pardigmatic resistance' to explain nar-
in the pre-vocalic zero grade.)
Richard.