Re: [tied] PIE suffix *-ro - 'similar-with'

> > That n/r alternation looks similar to that of the heteroclitic
> > neuter nouns and that postulated for the 3rd pl. ending, -n(t)- vs
> > -r-. Is the mechanism similar, ie that the -r- was once a
> > word-final -n# (and after it changed a thematic vowel was added)?
>
> Yes, I think it's basically the same mechanism. Namely, *-to-, *-no-
> and *-ro- arose as different thematisations of the same original
> suffix -- participial *-(e)nt-. The source of the *-r- variant may
> have been the the neuter form of the participle, *-n(t)# > *-r,

How about this: -r is the endingless locative of n-stems. That takes
care of the Germanic 'locatives' in -r (here, there etc) too.


Torsten