Re: Swadesh Lists

--- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com,
"H.M. Hubey" <hubeyh@...> wrote:

>
>
> richard.wordingham@... wrote:
>
> > Dear Mark,
> > I look for Swadesh

lists at www.rosettaproject.org .
There

> > are 2 lists there for Latin,

but I can't view them with my home
browser.

> >
> > I'm rather sceptical of Swadesh

lists for reconstructed languages.

> > How do we know we have the

_usual_ word for a meaning? For
example,

> > is PIE for 'red' *h1rudHro- or

*h1reudH- ?

>
> This has to be made more

explicit, I think. There should be
some kind of

> a calculation that shows what is

being maximized, or what

> is being minimized and why the

given set of sound changes is
superior to

> others.

The problem here is not which is
the correct reconstruction - see
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cybal
ist/message/17119 for a summary and
Pokorny root no. 1627 (e.g. via
http://flaez.ch/cgi-bin/pok.pl )
for the details, in particular the
languages which have reflexes for
both forms.
Another example is the pair
*pah2ur- and *h2ngni- of PIE words
for 'fire'.
A possible Germanic issue is the
word for 'die' - *daujan (> E. die)
or *sterban (> E. starve).
Richard.

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