Re: [MTLR] Re: The paradox of the Basco-Caucasian hypothesis

stlatos erote:

> The -a- in témakhos, though, doesn't seem to have another possible
> explanation.

The stem temakHes- is an obscure formation and until we understand its
structure in detail it's problematic as a piece of evidence.

> OIr taman 'tree stump' and MIr tamnaid 'lops' seem like
> good evidence (one with Celtic e-a > a-a) for h2, too.

As noted by Schrijver, <taman> is deverbative, from <tamnaid>, and so is
not an independent witness. <tamnaid>, in turn, comes from the nasal
present *tm.-n-(e)h-, where the vocalisation of *m. as *an is normal in
Celtic no matter which laryngeal follows. Joseph himself excluded it as
evidence of his *e-a assimilation rule.

I agree, though, that the evidence either way is inconclusive and
*temh2- cannot be ruled out.

Piotr