Re: A LEGITIMATE QUESTION ABOUT 'WATER' ISOGLOSS TO I.E. LINGUIST

Ishinan had written:

> Linguists believe PIE had two root words for water: *ap- and *wed-:
>
> "water (n.1) O.E. wæter, from P.Gmc. *watar (cf. O.S. watar,
> O.Fris. wetir, Du. water, O.H.G. wazzar, Ger. Wasser, O.N. vatn,
> Goth. wato "water"), from PIE *wodor/*wedor/*uder-, from root *wed-
> (cf. Hittite watar, Skt. udrah, Gk. hydor, O.C.S., Rus. voda,
> Lith. vanduo, O.Prus. wundan, Gael. uisge "water;" L. unda "wave")."
>
> Both terms (*ap- and *wed-) are offered as being part of the basic
> Indo-European vocabulary.... This assertion, often taken for
> granted, is now being challenged by the presence of similar terms
> for water in Arabic, a non-Indo-European language (these terms are
> `dr, `dd, and `bb which correspond to PIE *ap- and *wed-... To my
> knowledge these terms are only found in Arabic and are non-existent
> in other sister languages. I was often asked whether or not there
> are any other examples in Semitic languages?

At times I ask such questions to some experts (now also via Facebook), but their replies usually come late.

According to Prof. Alexander Militarev, a well-known Semitist, Arabic `dr at least has "rather reliable Afrasian cognates" -- I reproduce here my original query and his reply.

My question:

> > Dear Prof. Militarev,
> >
> > I wonder whether you can provide any clues about the Semitic
> > etymology (admitted there is one) of the Classical Arabic word
> > ʕdr mentioned in this link [to a site managed by Ishinan --
> > FB]:
> >
> > http://www.theegyptianchronicles.com/LINKS/3DR.html
> >
> > Does this word have any Semitic cognates?

Prof. Militarev's reply:

> Dear Francesco,
>
> Arab. ʕdr `abound in water', ʕadar- `heavy rain, downpour' has no
> explanation for the first radical other than a "root-extention" of
> West Semitic (in my classification) verb *drr (Hebrew 'drip',
> Arabic 'flow abundantly'). The Sem. root has rather reliable
> Afrasian cognates: Egyptian dr (alternatively, d may render ṭ and
> r - l) 'prevent water from flowing down' (medical text); West
> Chadic: Hausa ḍū́rà, Tangale dɛrị, Polchi ḍùrə̀w 'pour', etc.,
> Central Chadic: Gude ḍaarə 'flow', etc.; East Chadic: Bidiya
> ḍr-ḍòr 'inundate'; East Cushitic: Saho-Afar darur 'rain-cloud'.

See the full etymology (in some cases slightly different from Militarev's one) at

http://tinyurl.com/ad46pz7

How can the existence of a Proto-Afrasian root *dVr- 'flow' (or else its Proto-West Semitic derivative (through "root-extension"), *ddr- 'flow abundantly' have generated PIE *wedor- 'water'?

Francesco