PIE *ówi-s, 'sheep'

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Patrick:

I retract my suggestion to analysze PIE *ówi-s as a result of development
from pre-PIE *wo-wo-ye, fully recognizing that metathesis _could_ account
for Luwian hawi- if the form were reconstructed as *wo-wo-?a-ye.

Now, this is my second try; and I am well aware that it is the third time
that is the charm.

First, Luwian <h> suggests that the pre-PIE antecedent was /h/ or /h./, the
latter a voiceless pharyngeal fricative, formerly notated as /H/ — rather
than /?/.

Second, Sumerian is literally packed with words of the form u-x that mean
'sheep' or pertain to 'sheep'.

I am going to suggest *hó-wa, 'odiferous', which becomes *hÁu-, that is
*héu-, with Ablaut, and should be connected with PIE *éu-, 'clothing',
referring to 'sheep-skin'. Then, with the addition of -ye-, '-like',
*howéy-, and with retraction of the stress-accent to the root-syllable:
*hówi-.

Anyone who has been around them will acknolwedge the appropriateness of this
description for 'sheep' and 'goats'.

A person who wears a sheep-skin coat when it is raining is almost committing
an enviromental crime when he goes indoors.

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