--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Carl Hult <datalampa@...> wrote:
>
> Now I don´t know whether this verb has been discussed here before, I
> don´t feel inclined to seek out any such discussion at this time, but
> doesn´t habere sound to you like the ugly duckling in the latin nest?
> It sounds more germanic than italic. Anyone know how old this word is
> in latin, when it is attested the first time?
See the entry for the PIE root/lemma *kap- 'to grab' in the online
English version of J. Pokorny's _Indogermanisches Etymologisches
Wörterbuch_ scanned and recognized by G. Starostin, who has also added
the meanings, and further refurnished and corrected by A. Lubotsky:
http://us.share.geocities.com/altingjoka/etymology3.html
and then compare it with the entry for the PIE root/lemma *ghabh- 'to
grab, take' in the same online resource at
http://us.share.geocities.com/agimzeneli/etymology2.html
(Pokorny's original entries in German can be compared with each other at
http://tinyurl.com/n9s8r )
Pokorny derives the Germanic forms from *kap- and the Latin form from
*ghabh-, yet he considers the two roots/lemmas as related. The key
analytical passages in which he explains this relatedness are the
following:
1) "Note: [*ghabh-] with e:- forms durative `have on, wear, hold on,
possess, adhere to', could be onomatopoeic words (imitation of of
snatch sound), what would explain the frequent coincidence with the
synonymous roots qagh- and qap- [sic; read *kagh- and *kap-]."
2) "[The] sway between tenuis (a tenuis consonant is one which is
unvoiced and unaspirated,that is, it has a voice onset time close to
zero), voiced-nonaspirated, voiced-aspirated [...] can be explained
from the imitation of short snapping sounds (kap, ghap, ghabh etc.) and
imitation of quick snaps through this sound (`catch, grasp, snap')."
Best,
Francesco Brighenti