From: Rick McCallister
Message: 53840
Date: 2008-02-21
> 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
>
>