> 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/62525http://tech. groups.yahoo. com/group/ cybalist/ message/62572Re 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/6791Note 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/65061And 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-faþ s, 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
Here in Delaware, they still use it. In the Midwest, counties are divided into "townships" but here, counties are divided into "hundreds." My favorite is the Murderkill Hundred.