Re: [tied] Albanian outside the centum-satem division?

From: Abdullah Konushevci
Message: 40282
Date: 2005-09-22

  1. *nek'- 'death' > Alb. <nakar> 'jealousy, envy', probably from suffixed o-grade form *nok'-ro; <nakatos> 'mingle'
  2. bhrenk'- > Alb. <brengë> 'grief, oppression', compound of *bher- + *enk'-eH2; brengos 'depress, sadden, grieve';
  3. *ok'to(u)- eight > Alb. <tetë> 'id.' (aphaeresis of unstressed initial syllable ok'-, *o: > Alb. /e/), probably from *ok'to:(u)-ti;
  4. o:k'u- 'swift' > Alb. <sutë> 'hind, doe', according to Huld, compound og *o"k'u-petH (*k'y > s, maybe also *k'u > su and zero-grade form *ptH> Alb. të). I think that could be that also Alb. <ethe> 'fever' is derived from this root, for in many expressions it has the meaning 'very swiftly, upset': <punoj në ethe> 'to work in hurry'; <Është në ethe> 'He is very busy, very upset' (*o: > Alb./e/, *k' > th). It may be an old metaphoric expression or euphemism for 'fever'.
  5. *pag'-/*pak- 'to fasten' > Alb. <mbath> 'to shoe' and also <zbath> 'to take off'. So we deal again with bound morpheme <bath>.
  6. plek' – 'to plait' > Alb. <plah/plaf> 'wool blanket, rag', <pëlhurë> 'fabric, drappery', through metathesis l – a > a – l, when vocal is in unstressed position (entered also in Slavic languages as <plahta>.
  7. *prek' – 'to ask, entreat' > Alb. <preh•je> 'rest, repose, escape', probably from *prok'-so > prah, later suffixed in –je and underwent the Umlaut (cf. Lat. prex, pl. preces);
  8. *drek'- 'to see' > Alb. <dritë> 'light' from suffixed zero-grade form *dr.k'-ta: (cf. Gr. dragon).
  9. spek' – 'to observe' > Alb. <pah> 'view, perspective' (cf. *plok'-so > plah, *prok'-so > prah), derived from suffixed o-grade form *(s)pok'-so, <pashë> 'I saw', aor. suppletive form of verb <shoh> 'to see', probably from *(s)pok'-s (cf. Lat. specere 'to look at', Gr. skopein 'to see', metathesized form of spokein);
  10. *s(w)ek's- 'six' > Alb. <gjash•të>, probably from suffixed form *sek's-to (Lat. sex, Gr. hex);
  11. *tek's- 'weave' > Alb. <teh> 'blade' (?), probably from an o-grade form *tok's-u > tahi > teh, due to i-Umlaut. Other derivatives include also <ndeh> 'stretch, tighten' < *en- + teh; tjellë < *tek's-la: as bound morpheme in <shtjellë> 'vortex', <mbështjell> 'to wrap' etc.
  12. *weg' – 'to be strong, lively' > Alb. <vjedh> 'to steal';
  13. *weg'h- 'to go, transport in a vehicle' > Alb. <udhë> 'road', derived from zero-grade form *ug'h-eH2 (cf. OE <weg> 'way', Lat. <via> 'road' etc.);
  14. *weik'- 'clan, dwelling' > Alb. <vis> 'place, country, land', derived from *weik'-ya (*k'y > Alb. /s/, cf. Gr. oikia 'dwelling');


On 9/21/05, Abdullah Konushevci <akonushevci@...> wrote:
I am working in other cases and I hope that until the end of the week I will finish all outcomes of palatals, labio-velars and plain velars.
 
Konushevci

 
On 9/21/05, Grzegorz Jagodzinski <grzegorj2000@... > wrote:


----- Original Message -----
From: Abdullah Konushevci
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2005 2:11 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Albanian outside the centum-satem division?


On 9/20/05, Abdullah Konushevci < akonushevci@...> wrote:



On 9/20/05, Abdullah Konushevci < akonushevci@... > wrote:
> Palatals in Albanian
> *aig'- 'goat' > Alb. <edh> ‚goat kid' (*ai > e, *g' > dh);
[...]


When I started this thread, my idea was not to prove Albanian not to be a
Satem languages (because it is obvious for me). There is a view according to
which, of three velar rows, prevelars *K^ merged with clear velars *K in
Centum languages, and velars *K merged with labiovelars *KW in Satem
languages.

Albanian is said to be outside the division because it has preserved traces
of all three rows unmerged, namely *K^, *K and *KW. Especially, before a
front vowel, original *k^ should change into th, *k should stay unchanged,
while *kW should change into s.

The following examples are said to be typical:

1) *k^:          thom < *k^ens-mi 'I speak'
2) *k:            kohë < *ke:so- 'time'
3) *kW:        se < *kWe- 'what'

I doubt it because I just know no more examples for preserving k unchanged
before a front vowel. And I assume that *ke:so- had *k^ originally, not *k.
Of course we have Slavic evidence for *k in this word but it contain -s-,
and according to Meillet's rule saying that if the stem contains -s-, then
*k^, *g^(h) > k, g in (Balto-)Slavic, not s, z (see also gQsI 'goose' <
*g^hans-, kosa 'scythe' < *k^os- etc.). So, the example is not very
convincible.

As one can see from the Abdullah's list, the development of *k^, *g^(h) in
Albanian was very complex and there are no one single continuants of the
previous IE prevelars ("palatals"). Together with "regular" th < *k^ and dh
< *g^ we can see:

1) d like in dyllë 'wax', cf. Greek khylos 'juice' < *g^hus-l-; dorë 'hand',
cf. Gr. kheir < *g^he:sr; dimën (Geg.) 'winter', cf. Greek kheimo:n;  dje
'yesterday' < *dhg'hies- and many more

2) z like in zë 'voice', cf. Slavic zvonU 'bell', zve,kU 'sound'; njëzet
'20' < (d)k^mti- etc.

3) q like in quhem 'I name', cf. Slavic slys^e^ti 'hear' (with no Meillet's
change) and Lith. klausyti, etc.

4) k, g like in mjekër 'beard', cf. Lith. smakra (Meillet's rule!) and
Sansk. çmuçru- 'moustache' (possible assimilation < *k^mVkr-); gardh 'fence,
hedge' < *g'hr.H-dho ; (btw., "centumic" development is known from all Satem
languages, even from Sanskrit)

5) NULL like in i dhjeti 'tenth' < *dek^m.-to

6) Possibly also b, palatalization of n > nj etc.

In other words, because Albanian development seems to be very various and
sometimes even enigmatic (to tell the true, no conditions for initial d/dh <
*d(h), *g^(h) are known), the only example of kohë is no evidence for
preserving three velar rows in proto-Albanian.

Really, if Albanian preserved all three rows, unlike Satem and unlike Centum
languages, please give me more examples (for distinction between *ke and
*kWe for example, not for *k^e). And I will be stating that Albanian is a
typical Satem language until I see more evidence.

Grzegorz J.



___________________________________________________________
To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page
http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/GP4qlB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->


Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   cybalist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
   http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/