From: Joao S. Lopes
Message: 66318
Date: 2010-07-14
--- In cybalist@... s.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:
>
> Perhaps double -ss- was preserved in pre-Latin and did not undergo
> rhotacism, then *-s(s)r- yielded -str- as in a few other branches. But
> there's also another possibility: that Lat. auster, which means neither
> 'east(ern)' or 'dawn', is not connected with <auro:ra>.
>
Exactly. This is what I proposed in my last post.I think Latin <Auster> 'South wind', Lithuanian <aus^trìnis (vêjas)> 'NE wind', Latvian <àustrums> 'East', Germanic *austra-n 'East', Slavic *u:strj- 'summer' are all loanwords from Italoid *aust-r-, a reflex of IE *Xaidh- 'to burn; fire'. I suppose Italoid had *-dh > -st as in native Latin <aesta:s, aestus> but with a different vocalism.