From: Torsten
Message: 65173
Date: 2009-10-02
>I think it's a beautiful excercise, but personally, since the various forms conform to the a/u alternation of Kuhn's ar-/ur- language and the -nt-/-tt-/-t- etc of Schrijver's language of geminates (actually the same language) I am satisfied with blaming them on mechanisms in the donor language, be they morpho-phonological or dialectal.
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "dgkilday57" <dgkilday57@> wrote:
> >
> > According to some scholars, Common Germanic *hunDa- 'dog' (st.
> > m.) is connected with Greek <kúo:n>, Sanskrit <s'vá:>, etc., but
> > the required derivational morphology is bizarre. To the weak
> > stem *k^un- (acc. pl. Grk. <kúnas>, Skt. <s'únah.>) is appended
> > the oxytone suffix *-tó, usually found in passive participles,
> > yielding *k^untó-. Replacing the weak stem with a "zero-grade"
> > *k^wn.-, as though the Greek and other 'dog' words were somehow
> > derived from a "normal" root *k^wen-, does not change the
> > Germanic result. One could equally well attach a paroxytone
> > *-dHo- yielding *k^úndHo-, since the function of the suffix on a
> > root already meaning 'dog' is not explained.
> >
> > Another possibility is connection with the Gmc. verb *henþ- (st.
> > III) found in Gothic <frahinþan>, <-hanþ>, <-hunþans> 'to
> > capture, imprison', Swedish <hinna> 'to obtain, reach', Danish
> > dialectal <hinne> 'id.', for which the original sense of the
> > simplex is thought to be 'capture'. Here however we should
> > consider the force of Goth. <fra->. With verbs of motion, the
> > corresponding Skt. <pra-> can indicate the motion going to
> > completion: <pad-> 'fall', <prapad-> 'fall to'; <ks.ip->
> > 'throw', <praks.ip-> 'throw into'; <i-> 'go', <pre-> 'go to the
> > end, die'. This allows us to see *henþ- as the regular Gmc.
> > reflex of PIE *k^ent- 'prick, goad, incite', whence Greek
> > <kentéo:> 'I prick, goad, sting' (earlier *kénto:, Epic 1st aor.
> > inf. <kénsai>), <kéntron> 'point, sting, goad, spur', <kontós>
> > 'pike-shaft, pole'; Latvian <si:ts> 'hunting spear'; Old High
> > German <hantag> 'pointed'; etc. The sense of *henþ- in this view
> > is 'incite, urge into motion, chase', and of Goth. <frahinþan>
> > 'to chase to the end', i.e. 'to catch'.
> >
> > Now if Gmc. *hunDa- is derived from PIE *k^ent-, it cannot represent a participial *k^n.ttó-, but must continue a simple zero-grade oxytone *k^n.tó- parallel to *yugó- 'yoke' (Skt. <yugám>, Grk. <zugón>, Latin <jugum>, Gmc. *yuka-, etc.) from *yeug- 'join'. The yoke is what facilitates joining oxen, and the hound is what facilitates chasing game, flushing it out of the brush toward a spot where it can be caught or killed.
> >
> > DGK
> >
>
> In case no one else has done so, I just wanted to comment that your
> idea of Gmc *hunDa- being related to Gothic <frahinþan> makes a lot
> of sense and is quite plausible. The connection with words meaning
> 'point, sting, goad, spur, pole, spear, shaft,to prick, to goad, to
> sting, to incite', although plausible in light of the effect of the
> Skt prefix pra-, I find less likely because there is little of the
> Gmc sense of 'capture, imprison' or 'obtain, reach'. However the
> Gmc meanings can easily be related to the 'hand' as that which
> catches or that which obtains. The *k^n.tó can then be what
> facilitates catching game, as opposed to chasing it. Just my two
> cents' worth. I think your theory may require more substantiation
> of the equation of Skt. pra- with Gmc fra-.
>