Re: [tied] Re: IE thematic presents and the origin of their themati

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 40230
Date: 2005-09-21

tgpedersen wrote:

>
>>Concerning the semantics, I think there's another possible
>>explanation. We begin from the same starting point: normally, when
>>someone steals something, he literally carries it off. So, one could
>>ask "Who carried it?" (cf. idiomatic English "Who lifted it?"). A
>>ready answer to the question would be "So-and-so is the carrier".
>>From there, it only takes a stigmatic association with the
>>old "carrier" word for it to shift semantically to "thief".
>>
>
>
> Yes, that seems to be the traditional solution. I'm not convinced.

Cf. the Latin idioms <ferre et agere> or <ferre et rapere> for 'plunder'
(+ Homeric <agousi kai pHerousi>), not to mention English <shoplifter>.

Piotr