Re: Oedipus

----- Original Message -----

From: Arnaud Fournet

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 8:26 AM

Subject: Re: [tied] Oedipus

----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick Ryan
To: CYBALIST
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 1:58 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Oedipus

The ultimate root involved in these words is one of the more interesting
roots in PIE.

In its pre-Pontic PIE form it was *kha-, which became *ka(:)- in post-Pontic
PIE; its core meaning is 'bee'.

A arbitrary selection of typical actions and associated ideas produced
derivatives like

1. *ka(: )-+n-, 'sing' ('hum');

2. and, of course *ka(: )-+d-, 'sting ('damage')';
i
3. and subjectively: 3. *ka(: )-+i-, 'burn(ing pain)';

4. while, mental 'pain' is built from the same root, stress-accented
differently: *k^a(: )-+d- (**k-y-a(: )-+d-), producing metathesis;

5. this secondarily palatalized root also lives on in *k^a(:) -+t-, 'fight'
('hew'), and *k^a(:)-+d-, 'fall', both of which refer to a bee's diving to
attack, I.e. descending rapidly and producing 'stinging' (cf. 'hail').

Though death is perhaps the ultimate 'punishment' , 'kill' is not a natural
or legitimate extension of the core meaning of 'bee' � there is no "kill or
bee killed'.

Patrick

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