Boss

Miguel mentioned that the persistent o-vocalism of *poti- "master"
was odd. Møller compares it (with alternation bh/p) to a Semitic root
*b-H- seen also in Arabic 'baHluN' "husband" and proposes that that
root corresponds to PIE *ph3-t- where -t- is a suffix.

Does anyone know the etymology of Dutch 'baas', English 'boss' (I'm of
course looking for a Nordwestblock connedction here, that would take
care also of the alternation -t-/-s-, if they are not different
suffixes)?


Torsten