Re: From here to eternity [was: *y-n,W- "subordinate"?]

On 2008-11-20 17:15, Arnaud Fournet wrote:

> I realize my wording is not clear,
> I meant that the mix up of meanings S1 "always, eternal" and S2 "to be
> alive" in the IE reconstruction is responsible for *Hjw "to be alive" being
> erroneously reconstructed as *H2jw when it should be *H1jw (according to
> external data).

Internal evidence within PIE points to an acrostatic stem with *o/*e
ablaut. The e-grade is a-coloured, which points to *h2. The semantics
may look strange if you try to start with 'to be alive'. However, the
word in question is not based on any reconstructible verb root. It seems
to be a primary noun with the core meaning of 'vitality, life-force'.
Both 'youth' ('the prime of one's life') and 'long time, eternity' are
derived meanings (note e.g. the semantic development of Lat. aevum from
'age, lifetime, the length of human life' to 'eternity') .

Piotr