--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:
>
> On 2007-06-18 19:13, stlatos wrote:
> > *gYheltlos gYhl,tl(e)+ > Lith z^irkle:s 'shears'; Goth gilþa 'sickle'
> >
> > *kaltlos kl,tl(e)+ 'pole used to raise something > neck' > Lith
> > kaklas; *xalsa+ > Goth hals
> >
> > *bhertlos > L ferculum; *be:ro+ > bier
> >
> > *fkYertlos > *kartalo+ > Skt kartari:-; *ske:ro+ > ON skæ:ri; OE
> > sce:ara > shears
> Aren't you packing too much explanatory power into the suffix *-tlo-?
As I see it, your objection consists of: 1. I can't know they're
from *-tlo-. 2. I reconstruct too many sound changes that affect
C-tlo- in various languages (based on few examples).
may
> easily reflect something else, e.g. collectives (or, better still as
far
> as semantics is concerned, fossilised duals) of root nouns, with the
> length generalised from the nom.sg.
Why would root nouns be used for tools? Why does it only happen
with roots ending in -r? Why are words from the same roots with the
same meanings found that end in *-tlo-? Why aren't there any words
that show another outcome of *rtl in Germanic?
There are already at least 10 different outcomes of *-tlo- in
Germanic (more if you believe in a tro/tlo-identity). Among all the
IE languages, there are dozens more. If there were an example of
-rþl- that proved a more regular outcome of -rtl- I wouldn't have made
this claim. It seems that l>mora/r_ isn't too odd considering there
are no other examples of rl.
If there were more examples, I'd examine them, too. But with two
words that come from roots in -r showing tool-forms with long V it
seems unusual enough to make me take a close look and connect them to
*-tlo- if possible.