<Language> Nostratic word and distance measures

[Patrick C. Ryan]

<><><><><><><><><><><><>--This is the Language List--<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Dear Mark and Linguists:


----- Original Message -----
From: H. Mark Hubey <HubeyH at mail.montclair.edu>
To: language <language at iliad.montclair.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 1999 12:22 PM
Subject: <Language> Nostratic word and distance measures


> <><><><><><><><><><><><>--This is the Language
List--<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>
>
> The list has been dead a while. I think I have a word that will
> as the equivalent of "7" that has been argued about by
> Semiticists and IEanists.
>
> The word is Turkic balta. Since I just finished reading Dr. Eren's
> Turkish Etymological Dictionary, and in which this word is kicked
> around a lot, and which I had already read here and there, it seems
> like a good idea. Here are the Turkic versions:
>
> balta, Turkish, TatK, Balkar, Krg
> palta, Tkm, Alt, Tel, Shor, SAg, Koy, Kaca, Kuer
> baltu, Tar, etc
>
> balag (beil) Sumer
> porat, Tokharian
> pada < *parta, Saka
> fa'ra't, Ossetian
> *parathu, Old Farsi (?)
> paltu < pashtu, Akkadian
> purta, Chuvash
> parashu, Old Indian
> paltu < pashtu, pashu, Assyrian (assyro-baby-lonisch)
> pelekus, Greek
> pilakku,  Assyrian
> parachu, Sanskrit
>
>
> In Turkic 'bOl' (where O=o-umlaut) means "to divide, to split" so
> the word could have been bOlek (compare to balag in Sumerian).
> There is also 'bile' (to sharpen) and bilew (whetstone). Then there
> is 'UlUsh' (where U=u-umlaut, meaning share,ration, division)
> which seems should derive from 'bOlUsh' (division). It is agreed
> upon by Turkologists that *p > *h >0  for initial p in Turkic.
> Some words with initial h can still be found in Khalaj and found
> sporadically in others. So if we had *p > b  in some words and
> *p>h>0 in others these words would fit together.
>
> What root is offered for this word in other languages such as
> Semitic and IE?
>
> I think this would also be a good discussion of measuring
> phonological distances between words.
>
>
>
> ----------------------from Usenet sci.lang-------------------
> To me Turkish "balta"  (axe), has always seemed related to our Dutch
> "bijl"
> (axe). van Dale's Etymologisch woordenboek relates "bijl" to Middle
> Dutch "bile,
> bijl", Old Saxonian "bil" (sword), Althochdeutsch "bihal", Old English
> "bill", Old Norse "bilda", Old Irish "biail", Russian "bilo" (hammer).
> Notice the striking resemblance between Turkish "balta" and Old Norse
> "bilda".
>
> Johan Vandewalle
>
> --
> Sincerely,
> M. Hubey
> hubeyh at mail.montclair.edu
> http://www.csam.montclair.edu/~hubey
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You have already cited examples in IE derived from IE *bhei-l- and Semitic
(pilakku). Of course, there is Arabic fala¿a, 'cleave, split', which
probably is related. I suspect the real cognate is fa:la (fyl), 'weak in
judgment' ('split').

Pat

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<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>----Language----<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Copyrights and "Fair Use":     http://www.templetions.com/brad//copyright.html
"This means that if you are doing things like comment on a copyrighted work, making fun of it,
teaching about it or researching it, you can make some limited use of the work without permission.
For example you can quote excerpts to show how poor the writing quality is. You can teach a
course about T.S. Eliot and quote lines from his poems to the class to do so. Some people think
fair use is a wholesale licence to copy if you don't charge or if you are in  education, and it isn't.
If you want to republish other stuff without permission and think you have  a fair use defence, you
should read the more detailed discussions of the subject you will find through the links above."