Re: b/m alternation in Thacian, Illyria and Abanian

From: Brian M. Scott
Message: 56312
Date: 2008-03-30

At 3:17:49 PM on Sunday, March 30, 2008, tgpedersen wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
> <BMScott@...> wrote:

>> At 1:51:41 PM on Sunday, March 30, 2008, tgpedersen
>> wrote:

>>> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
>>> <BMScott@> wrote:

>>>> At 11:23:22 AM on Sunday, March 30, 2008, tgpedersen
>>>> wrote:

[...]

>>>>> That well-known fish, the 'length'? Haha, funny man.

[...]

>>>> 'The ling has long, slender body and a distinct beard
>>>> on the lower jaw. ... The ling can reach a length of
>>>> 2.2 meters.' (The Marine Fauna Gallery of Norway,
>>>> <http://www.seawater.no/fauna/Fisk/lange.htm>)

>>>> The pictures show a long, slender, rather eel-like fish
>>>> for which 'the long one' seems quite appropriate.

>>> No one denied that it was a long fish.

>> No? Then perhaps you should try for more content and
>> less sarcasm and derision.

> Because the fish is long I should be less sarcastic? Was
> it the length-fish that got to you?

Nothing 'got to' me. Not even the thunderstone, though it's
rapidly approaching that point. If you have a substantive
objection to the semantics, make it.

>>>>>> Incidentally, ON <langa> was borrowed into OIr as
>>>>>> <langa>.

>>>>> The obvious objection is that there is no reason why
>>>>> the Irish should borrow a name for that fish from the
>>>>> Scandinavians.

>>>> They also borrowed ON <þorskr> 'codfish', as <trosc>.

>>> Oddly enough, so did the Baltic Finns, Est. tursk.
>>> Therefore it must be Germanic?

>> There are very few 'musts' in historical linguistics, but
>> that's certainly the most straightforward explanation.

> Why do you behave like there is then?

I don't, of course.

>> And in Gmc. [ON <þorskr> 'codfish'] has a perfectly good
>> etymology, from *þurs- (PIE *ters- 'to dry').

> Would that be with a k-suffix?

Yes. Krahe & Meid III, §194.1 note that deadjectival
derivation of verbs via a Gmc. k-suffix is especially
frequent in ON, offering the pairs <dýrka> ~ <dýrr>,
<blíðka> ~ <blíðr>, <minnka> ~ <minnr>, <seinka> ~ <seinn>,
<víðka> ~ <víð>, <þurka> ~ <þurr>, and <samka> ~ <samr>.

Brian