> And we certainly shouldn't forget the most typical of all, those
> from the whole *ka/unt- etc complex: Eng. hunt with original /u/
> vs. Gothic hinþan, Sw hinna which are reorganized as a class III
> strong verb.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/62525
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/62572
Re the Estonian comitative suffix -ga, did I mention the Latin postposition (with pronouns) -cum "with"?
Which reminds me
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/6791
Note Engl. and, German und; a/u alternation; form *(h)a/und-?
As for the high decades in Gothic and OE: In some Gmc languages the ones are before the tens: German 'ein und siebzig' etc, in others it's the other way round: 'seventy one', or it might have been 'seventy and one'.
There's your 'hund': someone left it on when there are zero ones.
The 'hund' might as well be interpreted here as a comitative suffix as the word "and", or perhaps the historical development was just that: "crowd, war/hunting party" -> comitative suffix -> "and".
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/65061
And now a quote:
Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary
'Þ61. þusundi cardinal number f io: Neh 7.34, pl þusundjos Mk 5.13 khílioi, thousand; þusundi-faþs m i khilíarkhos officer, leader of a thousand, only nom sg J 18.12 and dat pl þusundifadaim Mk 6.21. Cf suffix in bruþfaþs. Use of suffix in hunda-faþs, þusundi-faþs, and *swnagoga-faþs, independent, not loan translation, despite similarity of formation; Iran þata-pati, Arm hariwra-pet centurion; Iran *hazahra-pati, Arm hazara-pet leader of a thousand; Arm z^ol/ovrda-pet ruler of the synagogue Benveniste 1963 BSLP 58: [art] 41ff,54-57.'
Until I read Benveniste's article, I think I'll remain skeptical of the idea the Gothic is not a loan translation.
Koryakova, Epimakhov
The Urals and Western Siberia in the Bronze and Iron Ages
pp. 213-214
'Social Organizations of Eurasian Nomads
...
The military-potestal relations were in competence with the organization, usually called a "tribe." The tribe regulated contact with other tribes, to resolve political and military problems. The tribe could be of dual (left and right "wings") or triple (left and right wings plus a center), and was militarily organized by the decimal structure (i.e., units of thousands, hundred, and tens with a hierarchy of leaders) (Taskin 1989). In peacetime, the dispersed character of the nomadic society did not require a great central power thus the power of the chiefs was not very significant, but in wartime, a central power was necessary. The amazing ability of nomads to create large armies in case of military danger or political contests is well known. A leader's personality should not be underestimated in the process of sociopolitical consolidation of nomadic societies. The history of the Hsiung-nu tribes is a good example. Cribb (1991: 55) stresses the territorial aspect of a tribe: "The tribe constitutes the operational unit through which units of population are matched to units of territory."
'
Like I said ;-)
The "wing" aspect of *ka/unt-, the "people/tribe" aspect of it, the decimal system (of Germanic) intertwined with it.
Also, if this was the primary use of *pot- "master", the unstressed position explains the root /o/.
At least we now know what kind of society the *ka/unt- root is from. Now why did Celts etc also use that organization (Tricassi etc)?
Torsten