Re: Latin ina:nis = ?

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Francesco Brighenti" <frabrig@...>
wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@>
> wrote:
>
> > Latin ina:nis "empty" = absence of ...what? What is the meaning

of

> > this suffix -a:nis? Akin to h2enh1- "to breath"?
>
> Yes, at least according to the analysis offered by Edwin W. Fay
> ("Dreams, the Swelling Moon, the Sun", _The Classical Quarterly_,
> Vol. 11, No. 4 [Oct., 1917], pp. 212-13). Yet, this author does not
> interpret the grammatical particle in- as a negative prefix (as in.
> e.g., Lat. in-ertis). He proposes that the form-pattern for this
> Lat. adjective is provided by such Greek formations as en-
> orkhos 'having testicles' and en-spondos 'having a drink-offering'
> (i.e., 'included in a truce or treaty', because a solemn drink-
> offering, sponde:,was made on concluding them). On this analogy, in-
> a:nis may be etymologized as 'having (nothing but) air',
> viz. 'empty, void'. The root would be, therefore, *an(@)- 'to
> breathe'

Fay's analysis applies very poorly to <corpus ina:ne> 'lifeless body,
dead body', which has NO breath left, and <animus ina:nis> 'vain
spirit, conceited character'.

> According to Fay, a perfectly parallel Greek development is found

in

> anemo:lios 'windy', used metaphorically since Homeric times with

the

> meaning 'vain, empty, insubstantial' (akin in meaning to Lat.
> ina:nis). This adjective is, most likely, dissimilated from
> *anemo:nios(< anemos 'wind'). An exact synonym is the Homeric
> adjective metamo:nios 'vain, idle', etymologized since antiquity as
> if for *met-anemo:nios (again < anemos 'wind', and akin in meaning
> to Lat. ina:nis).

Those are semantically parallel to colloquial English <windy>,
<windbag>, <hot air>, etc., but Fay's connection with <ina:nis> seems
forced.

> Although the PIE root *an(@)- appears in Latin mainly in the
> suffixed *an(@)-mo form (cf. anima 'wind, air, breath'), it is also
> attested in the suffixed (denominative) *an-slo form in the verb
> ha:lo:, -a:re 'to breathe' (according to Pokorny, with phoney -h-).
> I mean, if Fay's analysis is proved correct, the long -a- in

ina:nis

> must have some phonological explanation like the one offered for
> ha:lo: (but I don't know which one!).

My guess is that 'breath' is not involved at all, and that <ina:nis>
represents *inartsnis 'not having *artsna:' where *artsna: was
parallel to *kertsna: 'portion cut, serving, dinner', ClLat <ce:na>,
but from *ar(H)-t- 'to fit together, join, organize' rather than from
*(s)ker-t- 'to cut, divide, apportion'. While *artsna: 'well-joined
whole, state of organization' did not survive as ClLat *a:na,
*inartsnis 'poorly joined, disjointed, disorganized, chaotic' became
<ina:nis> 'disjointed, nonsensical, vain, void of meaning' (esp. of
speech, esp. in Plautus), then more generally 'void, empty, vacant'.

In this scenario (or guesswork if you will), <ina:nis> is
etymologically connected with <iners>, not with <inanimus>.

DGK