Re: Witzel and Sautsutras (was: Mapping the Origins and Expansion of

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg_rhiemeier@...> wrote:

>
> > Keep in mind that in English, shiv means "knife." But if he just read
> > Wikipedia to start with, follow its sources, he might arrive at a
> > linguistic understanding of the history of languages. Knowing a language
> > as a native speaker does not give one any special insight into its origins.
>
> Indeed not. For instance, I long assumed that German _Sommer_
> 'summer' was derived from _Sonne_ 'sun' - but consulting an
> etymological dictionary told me that that was just a folk etymology
> (unless there is indeed a connection deep in Pre-PIE, of course).
>

As regarding 'summer', this is a root *sam-/*sm-ro- (certainly NOT **sem-) found in some IE languages, and which I link to Semitic *X\amm- 'to be hot; warm' (where X\ is the voiceless pharyngeal fricative) as well as IE *H2e:m-r- '(heat of the) day' (Greek he:méra, Armenian awr 'day'). Latin amo: 'to love' < 'to be in heat' (possibly through an Etruscan intermediate) also belongs here.

This is just one example of the IE lexicon with more than one "regular" correspondences, and which in the traditional model is split into several different "roots". Also "Nostratic" roots can (and usually do) have more than a reflex in IE.

And for "Santa Claus", I don't like to repeat myself every 6 months or so, wherever somebody comes to challenge me.