Re: Hercynian (again)

From: Brian M. Scott
Message: 68701
Date: 2012-03-02

At 7:07:23 PM on Thursday, March 1, 2012,
Bhrihskwobhloukstroy wrote:

> 2012/3/2, Brian M. Scott <bm.brian@...>:

>> At 5:14:56 AM on Thursday, March 1, 2012,
>> Bhrihskwobhloukstroy wrote:

>>> 2012/3/1, Brian M. Scott <bm.brian@...>:

>>>> At 5:34:14 PM on Wednesday, February 29, 2012,
>>>> Bhrihskwobhloukstroy wrote:

>>>>> Yet it's quite curious that we find crash 'to fall
>>>>> with a noise' apparently with the very *-sk-
>>>>> inchoative suffix suffix and the root of crack 'to
>>>>> resound', Dutch kraken, but Old High German krahhon
>>>>> with expected -hh-, Armenian krkač̣ 'to make noise'
>>>>> again with /k/ = Germanic /k/ and Lithuanian
>>>>> girgiždė́ti 'to creak', Old Indic gárjati 'roars'. It
>>>>> really looks like a PIE *grog'-sk'oh2

>>>> It really looks like a Middle English echoic formation,
>>>> parallel to <clash> and sharing a sound-symbolic final
>>>> element with <dash>, <smash>, <splash>, etc.

>>> If crash is of Middle English origin, how do You explain
>>> the corresponding words in other languages?

>> Outside of Continental Scandinavian, where they also seem
>> to be late and look like parallel echoic formations, I
>> see no corresponding words in other languages. In
>> particular, I do not think that <crash> and <crack> are
>> related by any regular derivational process.

> They would, if ME craschen is from PGmc *kra[k]skanan and
> crack from - as evident - *krakkanan

I have no reason to think that ME <crashen> has a PGmc.
origin. Its very late attestation and obvious English
sound-symbolic parallels make that quite unlikely.

Brian