Re: [tied] Slavic adjectives: note on lêto

From: Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
Message: 47537
Date: 2007-02-20

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:29:57 +0100 (CET), Mate Kapoviæ
<mkapovic@...> wrote:

Thanks for the references, Mate.

Just a short unrelated note on the word lêto "summer". This
had been worrying me, because the usual etymology connects
it with Germanic le:T-, which must be barytone (Verner). If
so, lêto would be one of the few originally barytone neuter
which has remained neuter (NA ending -o). Normally,
originally barytone neuters become masculine (*dhwórom >
dvorU), and secondarily barytone neuters can be explained by
an appeal to Hirt's law (or other retractions).

In the online version of Vasmer, under "Trubachev's
comments", however, I read:

Machek (Etymol. slovn., p. 265) considers original *<lêto
(vermeN)>, cognate with Lat. laetus, originally "beautiful",
i.e. lêto (summer) = "beautiful (time)", cf. NGr. kalokaíri
"summer", from kalós "beautiful", kairós "time".

That would explain it: adjectives _always_ have -o.



=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
miguelc@...