Re: Hittie hi- / Germanic preterito-presentic

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:

>
> Gothic
> preterito-presentic
> wáit
> wáist
> wáit
> witum
> wituT
> witun
>
> pt. weak
> wissa- (from *wit-t-)

OHG pret. wissa/wëssa/wësta
OHG kan; konda/konsta
ON veit; vissa
Da ved, vi[d]ste
Sw vet; visste
OE wât; wisse/wiste


Hittite
pais^ OH, pais^ta, pes^-ta NH pret. 3sg "he gave"
similarly pret. (Burrows)
na-is^, na-is^-ta 2g. "you placed"
pa-is^, pa-is^-ta 3sg. "he lead"
Oettinger: hi- group I pret. 3sg -s; stems on -s: -sta

> Hittite
> hi-conjugation
> u:hi (< *u:- + *-h2 + *-i)
> auti (< *au- + *-th2 + *-i)
> auszi (replaces *aui < *au- + i)
> umeni (< *u- + *-men + *-i)
> auteni (< *au- + *-ten + *-i)
> uánzi (< *u- + *anzi)
>
> pt.
> u:hun
> austa
> austa (in other verbs -s, later -ta)
> aumen
> austen
> auer
>
>
> It seems like Hittite /au/ must be o-grade of /u/. The -s-
> of 3sg pres and 2,3sg, 2pl pret is not found in other words
> of this conjugation.
>
>
> Unfortunately, the Hittite hi-preterite seems to have mainly
> o-grade, while the Gemanic preterito-presentic preterite has
> zero-grade. If some way could be found around that, then the
> Germanic preterito-presentic conjugation would be the true
> heir of the Hittite hi-conjugation.

Which would mean that the hi-conjugation had both a present
and a preterite in an ancestor to Hittite and Germanic (and
that can't be other than PIE).


Torsten