Re: Origin of Thematic Neuter -om (was: 1sg. -o:)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@...> wrote:

> On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 05:48:47 +0000, etherman23
> <etherman23@...> wrote:
>
> >--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, glen gordon <glengordon01@...> wrote:
> >
> >> > Miguel mentions in previous postings a plural in
> >> > -abh- and that this lautgesätzlich becomes -om.
> >>
> >> His basis for a true plural marker in *bH is weak.
> >
> >I agree
>
> What's weak about it?

It's weak because *bhi is obviously a particle that became an
inflection in some languages. It seems more obvious to me that *-e- is
a plural (possibly from an earlier *-i- which would be cognate with
Uralic *-i plural, and/or PAA *-a-).

> The athematic plural forms can be analyzed as follows:
>
> - e s > *-es
> m - s > *-ns
> om - - > *-om
> m o s > *-mos/*-bhos/*-bhjos
> - - s u > *-su
> m i s > *-mis/*-bhis
>
> Where <m> stands for *m, *bh or *bhj. The pattern is
> clearly that <m> is the plural oblique marker, absent from
> the nominative (and the singular, of course). Its absence
> in the locative must be secondary: perhaps *-bh-s-u became
> *-su.
>
> In the thematic plural, we find *-o-ej- > *-oj- instead of
> *-m-/*-bh-/*-bhj- in the oblique:
>
> o - e s > -õs / -oj
> o j [m] - s > -o:ns
> o j [m] - - > -õm
> o j [m] o s > -ojos, -o(j)mos...
> o j - s u > -ojsu
> o j [i] s > -ojs
>
> The picture is somewhat distorted by the intrusion of
> *m/*bh/*bhj from the athematic paradigm in the thematic
> accusative and genitive, and also in the dative/ablative
> (although there are good reasons to think the original
> thematic form here was *-oj-o-s). The reason for this is
> that the original accusative/genitive form *-oj had become a
> nominative (as also in the pronouns: *wej, *k^ej, *toj,
> etc.), so the accusative and genitive had to borrow
> athematic *-m.
>
> Thematic *-oj- is not a postposition, and therefore neither
> is *-m-/*-bh-/*-bhj-.
>
>
> >, but perhaps it could be connected to Georgian -eb plurals.
>
> Of course. The Nostratic pattern is: pronominal plural nom.
> *-atu, acc/gen. *-ati (also endingless *-an); nominal plural
> nom. *-abu, acc/gen. *-abi.
>
>
> =======================
> Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
> mcv@...