Re: park

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Tavi" <oalexandre@...> wrote:

>
> > Other words that have devoicing and some odd r/l alternations :
> >
> > Perg-ola : *bhelg
> > related to balcon and latin fulk-rum
> >
> Actually, this "alternation" can't be explained within the standard IE
> theory but as different outputs of the same Nostratic root.
>
> That is, Latin pergula derives from *perg-
> 'board, beam', which also gives English fork. In a Nostratic framework, this root would be in
> turn cognate to *bhelg´-  'beam, prop'. But Latin fulcrum
> would imply a root *bhelk-. This suggests to me the velar stop was
> probably a glottalic *k', probably some kind of suffix (aka "root
> extension"). Hence we've got two presumably cognate roots *pVr-g- ~
> *bVl-k'- (making abstration of IE ablaut with regard to vocalism).
>

Although suggestive at first glance, there're some difficulties in this proposal. To begin with, Latin pergula 'porch' is apparently a Vasco-Caucasian (possibly Etruscan) loanword from PNEC *bVrk'wV 'enclosure; frame, staircase', with a suffix *-lV like in Andian.

On the other hand, PIE *bhelg´-/*bhelk´- phonetically suits PAltaic *pjalagV  'fortress, group of houses', because PAltaic *p ~ PIE *bh and PAltaic *g is the regular result of a former glottalic *k'/*q'. This root is also found as Proto-Uralic *palGV 'village' and PNEC *bultK'K'V 'house'. Semantically, this would be another example of a "pars pro toto" etymology, since Neolithic huts like the ones of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture had a prop to hold up the roof.

With these data I'd reconstruct a (Mesolithic) pre-PIE root *belq'V which theoretically could be linked to PNC *borG\wV 'stall, shed; tower', a Wanderwort found in Greek pýrgos 'tower' and Germanic *burg- 'village, city'. Possibly (but not sure) also substratal PIE *perg- 'board, beam' (Germanic, Balto-Slavic) belongs here.