On 2008-02-20 03:11, stlatos wrote:
> Changes s- > h- ( > 0 before C)
>
> *septm' > *hatwu > *hltu > tHalo '7'
This does _not_ illustrate the change *s- > h- but something much more
complex in which *s- > h- is just a hypothetical intermediate step. You
make an extra assumption practically every time you propose a match. Why
is the final *-m lost here but retained in *dek^m.?
> *smi:x > mi-, Arm mi
>
> tsundo '5'
> mis^indo '1+5 > 6'
You are mixing up the Burushaski dialects. If you use Yasin tHaló, you
should use also <bis'índu>, even if it complicates your derivation.
Anyway, is there any other evidence for *(s)mi- 'one' in Burushaski?
> *pc^li > c^api 'pliers'
With so much metathetic freedom plus random deletion and epenthesis any
pair of words can magically become a match.
> m>w after (all?) C
>
> *septm' > *hatwu > *hltu > t(h)alo '7'
>
> *piixYmYn, > *firwan > iran 'cream'...
Where's the /w/? And this particular kind of rhotacism has not been
mentioned before. Any other examples of *h1 > r?
> *kYmtom > *c^umtam > *suta > *sta > tHa '100'
>
> *wiikYmt- > *dwikYumt- > *ltirut- > *altr > altar '20'
<áltar> looks obviously related to <altán>. The rest is guesswork, and
rather complicated guesswork at that. It seems *k^m.(t) can develop any
odd way, yielding -rum, -r, or tH-, depending on expedience. I know you
regard this variety as conditioned, but this conditioning is far too ad
hoc for my taste.
> *kYswekYs? > *c^swac^s '6'
Unattested, but what the hell.
I'm not in principle against odd or weakly supported sound changes,
occasional irregularities, etc. But the acceptance of such messy facts
of life is a luxury we can afford if a relationship has been established
on a solid basis (numerous and strongly supported regular
correspondences in the lexicon and inflectional morphology). If
_everything_ is odd, tentative and half-regular, it's just a house of cards.
Piotr