On 2008-01-21 23:51, alexandru_mg3 wrote:
> 'Your' supposed *pu:tium will be the SINGLE EXCEPTION:
>
> =========================================
> Latin *pu:tium > Rom. FEMININ put,&
> =========================================
Not so quickly. <prae-pu:tium> is a prepositional governing compound.
The final *-io- characterises such compounds, but not their members in
isolation. Cf.
<cla:vus> (m.) 'purple stripe on the tunica' --> <prae-clav-ium> (n.)
'the part of the tunica before the stripe',
<grex> (f.) 'flock, herd' --> <e:-greg-ius> (adj.) 'chosen from a great
number, distinguished',
<furnus> 'oven' --> <prae-furnium> 'the opening of a furnace'.
<prae-pu:tium> PRESUPPOSES some (presumably slangy) Latin word of the
form <pu:t-X> and with the likely meaning 'penis'. We have no idea what
the actual stem-forming element was or what gender it marked, although
the existence of the word is GUARANTEED by the existence of
<praepu:tium>. In fact, it may well have been something like *pu:tia.
Piotr