Joao S. Lopes wrote:
> Should be Po(t)se-idahon a compound analogous to
> Lake-daimon, Make-don ? IE or not-IE?
The simplest and most natural explanation, if available at all, is the
safest bet, at least initially. The -da(:)o:n part recurs in
<e-ne-si-da-o-ne>, where the first element can be securely identified,
cf. Gk. <enosis> 'shaking, earthquake' and <enosikHtHo:n> (another
epithet of P.). I have little doubt that the segmentation Posei-/Potei-
is correct, and if so, this can only be the old vocative of <posis>. The
consonant variation is easy to explain: *potis became <posis> regularly,
and the /s/ was analogically generalised, so that <potei> survived in
Doric alongside the younger variant <posei>. I'm not surprised to find
the vocative of 'lord' in a theonym, via the univerbation of a phrase
used in invoking the god. As to the origin and interpretation of
*da:(h)o:n, I remain agnostic. There is a similarity of phonetic
treatment, and a similar range of variation, in <hermao:n> (a variant of
<herme:s>), but I'm not sure yet what to make of it.
Piotr