Re: No person and number endings in IE Nordwestblock?

> In Dutch (one of these days I'll have to read up on the
> history of the Germanic languages) there is an 'er' "there",
> besides 'daar' "there" and it's tempting to identify these two as free
> occurrences (ie. as independent words) of that same elusive suffix.
> [SNIP]
>
> Du.: 'er komt iemand' "there comes someone", ie "someone's coming"
> Da.: 'der kommer nogen' id.
> Du.: 'daar komt iemand' "thére comes someone"
> Da.: 'her kommer ingen' "here comes no one", ie "no one comes here"
> Da.: 'så kommer der nogen' "then comes there someone", ie "then
> someone comes" (note subject-verb inversion)

In German, in both cases, <da kommt ((k)einer/jemand or niemand/wer)>
(In Bavarian: <do kummt/kimmt (k)oana/wea>; in northern Plattdeutsch
<dor kömmt> (e.g. <dor kömmt ne lütte Maus> "there comes a little
mouse"), in Cologne Platt <dor kütt>.

But in German, <da> means "here", "there" and "then (at this/that
time)" (as well further two functions).

George