Miguel, whether or not it is likely for languages to produce these
adjectives using demonstrative stems is not the relevant
question here at all. The question is: **HOW** is it "obvious"
that thematic nouns derive from such adjectives marked for
definiteness?

We could equally put forth a half-baked claim that all
Japanese nouns ending in -a ALSO come from an attached pronominal
stem *a (cf. a-no "that", a-chira "that way", etc), screaming "It's
obvious, stupid!". But is it groundless? Most definitely. There
simply is NO SEMANTIC TRACE of special definiteness amongst
IE's thematic nouns. It was the *case system* and *demonstratives*
that marked definiteness in IE. (Note that both Uralic and IE
use *-m as the _definite_ accusative.)

So what can one say to someone who doesn't know how to prove his
assertions and screams "It's obvious! It's obvious!!!"? This
is how academic discussions become psychotic monologues.

- love gLeN



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