From: mcarrasquer
Message: 47511
Date: 2007-02-16
>No because you do _not_ get the same result. Adding -n to the
> Maybe I should repeat so that I am sure you have read it:
> Textbooks on Latin tell us that personal names likes Cato:, n-stems,
> are derived from thematic adjectives like catus. That derivation
> must then consist in subtracting the thematic vowel and adding some
> stem *-en- (Hoffmann?). Now until so far I'm following the books.
> Now you tell me that thematic stems end in *-u, *-i, *-a, and n-
> stems in *-un, *-in, *-an. If we repeat the procedure before to get
> definite descriptions from thematic adjectives we now have to
> remove an *-u, *-i, or *-a suffix and add an *-un, *-in or *-an
> suffix. I'm still following the books plus your description. The
> question now was: is it not easier to add *-n directly onto that
> stem ending in *-u, *-i or *-a, instead of removing that ending and
> adding instead a *-un,- *in, *-an ending to end up with the same
> result?