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

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, glen gordon <glengordon01@...>
wrote:

> Jens' initial claim:
> > Because it was **még^-eH2 that became *még^H2.
>
> Jens explains:
> > Certainly it's athematic, the vowel of the ablauting
> > suffix //-eH2-// is not the thematic vowel.
>
> But the athematic feminine suffix is *-ih2 so we
> expect *megih2.

The suffix //-eH2-// belongs to the stem of the adjective
meaning 'big' and is not a feminine marker. The fem. was *még^-H2-
iH2 (Ved. mahí:, Hitt. mekki-).

> > It is all based on the derivation of the Vedic
> > acc. mahá:m from *még^-oH2-m. [...]
>
> Only Vedic. That doesn't carry much weight in IE
> and I don't know where the hypothetical feminine
> in **-oh2- comes from. The feminine is *-eh2 with
> *e due to Schwa Diffusion because *-h2 was unvoiced.
> There can be no **-oh2 unless it is *-o-h2.

Vedic archaisms generally carry quite a lot of weight. Again, the
segment *-oH2- is not a feminine marker, but a bound allomorph of a
suffix pertaining to the adjective itself. Its structure is as in a
normal acc.sg. like *H2ák^-mon-m. , Gk. ákmona.

Jens