--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:
>
> Isn't Greek <phagein> "to eat" also supposed to be derived from this
root? The semantic progression is perhaps "divide" > "share" >
"partake" > "eat". If so, where does Greek <a> come from? Is it a
case of the velar colouring *e to *a? Or was there an *h2 before the
*e? And how regular is this velar colouring of *e to *a? Why, for
example, do we not see it in *legh- "lie" (Slavic *lez^-)? Or *sek-
"cut" (Slavic *sekyra or similar "scythe"or similar)?
Maybe it's semantically relevant that Bog is the name of the One and
Only and therefore a late name; the Slavic gods were named
So-and-so-bog and were therefore, presumably,
so-and-so-providers/distributors.
You might find something relevant in (among that which isn't
http://www.angelfire.com/rant/tgpedersen/HbHpHg.html
Note the 'beech'/Gk.'oak' word; the one thing the two species have in
common is that their foods is good pig food. Pigs are pre-IE too,
phagein might therefore be substrate, which might explain its /a/.
Torsten