IE "Urheimat" and evidence from Uralic linguistics

[Patrick C. Ryan]

Dear Joat and IEists:

 ----- Original Message -----
From: <JoatSimeon at aol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2000 3:30 AM

>> proto-language at email.msn.com wrote:

>> A word for 'bear' might also be derived from related
>> roots meaning 'carry' or 'cut out off', and might capture of one two
>> essential characteristics of 'bears': standing up while advancing,
>> cave-hibernating.

<JS>
> -- bears don't stand up when advancing; they stand up when making threat
> displays, or trying to see what's going on.

> When advancing -- aka 'charging' -- they run towards you, very very quickly,
> with a very large mouth full of teeth wide open, making distressing sounds.

> To people living in the woods, equipped with spears, "destructive one" is
> a pretty good name for an animal characterized by large size and bad temper.

<PR>
I wrote hastily, and I accept your correction of a bear's standing as a
threat display.

I guess the real point I wanted to make is that PIE adjectives, apparently
independent of verbal or nominal roots, are few.

I am not aware of a regular and consensually accepted derivational process
for converting an adjective to a noun in PIE --- although there are
recognized derivational processes for converting nouns to adjectives, and,
if one is willing to count participles as adjectives, adjectives from verbs.

Of course, 'destructive one' might be an appropriate name for a bear --- if
PIE-speakers could easily form such a word.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE at email.msn.com (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th
St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE:
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http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ek,
at ek hekk, vindga meipi, nftr allar nmu, geiri undapr . . . a ~eim meipi er
mangi veit hvers hann af rstum renn." (Havamal 138)