You are right about Vasmer:
Proto-Slav. *svętъ related to Lith. šveñtas 'holy' etc.
In most of the Slavic languages the vowel /e/ is not nasalized, although there are Slavic dialects where, even in these days, the both words (holy, world/light) are pronounced with a strong nasalization; cf. Cz. svatý 'holy' but světec 'saint'; svatojánek, světluška 'glowworm, lightning bug'; you see here that svat- and svet- have interchangeable
meanings - 'holy' and 'shiny, glowing'.
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
From: BMScott@...
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:05:57 -0400
Subject: Re[2]: [tied] Re: Afro-Asiatic substrate (re "folk" "polk" "pulkas")
No one denied this. The point is that these are not related
to the 'holy' word. Read Vasmer more carefully: for the one
he gives 'Praslav. *sve^tU', for the other. 'Praslav.
*sveNtU'.
Brian
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