--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "stlatos" wrote:
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>
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> --- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "dgkilday57" wrote:
> >
> > --- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "stlatos" wrote:
>
> > > There's no reason to expect a regular change for either above; quadru- shows tr > dr , dr > tr in taeter , maybe vitrum , and definitely:
> >
> > In _quadri/u-_ we may have contamination with an old word for
'whetstone', *quadrum, replaced by _co:s_; cf. OE _hwaet_ 'keen, bold', OS _hwat_ 'id.', OHG _(h)waz_ 'sharp, rough, severe', ON _hvatr_ 'bold, vigorous'; OE _hwettan_, OHG _wezzan_, ON _hvetja_ 'to whet', from PGmc *xwatjanan. Whetstones are generally square and *quadrum could have passed into the meaning 'square', whence _quadra:re_ 'to make square', and squares have 4 corners.
> >
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> That is certainly a possibility that I would never have thought of. There's a reason for that.
>
Also, the L cognate is supposedly:
tri-quetrus = 3-cornered / triangular L;
also w -dr- > -tr-.