On 2007-02-15 23:02, Miguel Carrasquer Vidal wrote:
>>> There are no n-stems derived from thematics
>> What is then the relationship of catus/cato: ?
>
> One is thematic, the other is an athematic n-stem. The
> n-stem is not built on the thematic form: that's impossible.
>
> You *can* build thematics on consonant-stems: happened all
> the time.
Well, so what's the relationship between Gk. gnátHos 'jaw' and gnátHo:n
'chubby' or híppos and hippó:n 'stable, posting-house'? It's quite clear
to me that Hoffmann formations in *-h3on- are not restricted to
Tocharian, and that's one clear source of n-stems derived from thematics.
The origin of the catus/cato: type is debatable, but one distinct
possibility (Birgit Olsen's idea, I think) is that at least some
"individualising/definite" nasal stems corresponding to thematic (and
other) adjectives were originally -n(t)- participles of stative verbs,
derived in turn from adjectives (*X-h1-on(t)- '[singled out as] being
X'). The process is a complex one but again it is eventually capable of
transforming thematics into nasal stems.
Piotr