... (dual forms)

[Christian Petersen]

[ moderator re-formatted ]

Lieber Ralf-Stefan und Indogermanisten,

unfortunately, I've not been able to pick the fruits of this list for a long
time; but now I am about to move and change job, and hence have to sign off for
a while.

But before I do that, I'd like to tell you a brief anecdote that happened to
the Icelandic IEist/Tocharologist/Balticist/Laryngealist Jvrundur Hilmarsson,
who died quite untimely of cancer in his 40s.

He wanted to find out about Lithuanian dual forms in order to prove that they
were still productive. So he took a trip to Vilnius and went out to the
countryside to ask elderly people whether they have ever encountered the (dual)
forms xyz. But everyone he met was unaware of suchalike.

So without having achieved anything in this matter, he gave up after a
fortnight and booked the return flight. After the checkout, the passengers were
driven to the plane by bus.

The bus was very crowded, so that not everyone could get a seat. All of a
sudden, the bus had to brake very hard, and the people standing could not keep
a firm hold, and thus accidentally pushed their neighbours. Among them was an
old woman with a full bag in each hand; and the young man she kicked  was upset
and asked her to take more care. Her reply was this:

"If I had three hands, I could hold myself tight, but I only have TWO HANDS."
And there it was.

Those of you who are interested in Gothic might check out this site:
http://www.sfb441.uni-tuebingen.de/%7Ereimar/gotisch.html#verweise

Everyone have a nice summer
Christian