Latin and Slavonic for `moon'

[Peter &/or Graham]

Nath said:

>We can't tell gneH1 from gneH3 in Sanskrit, but jn~a:ti ``relative'' occurs

I don't know what your Sanskrit is like, but I have no difficulty whatever,
when reading Sanskrit, in telling the two roots apart.   Perhaps this
reflects the fact that my Sanskrit is not all that good!

PIE *gneh3 gives ja:na:ti ( a ninth class present, revealing the laryngeal);
and the causative jn~a:payati, and various forms in jn~a: e.g. jn~a:tr
(someone who knows).   So jn~a:ti is clearly cognate with the Greek gno:tos,
and is from the knowing root.

PIE *genH1 (note the different ablaut form from *gneh3, attested in a number
of IE languages) gives the Sanskrit root jan, present class four (ja:yate)
causative janayati (lack of lengthening in the first syllable  reveals the
laryngeal) and various forms in ja:- or jan- e.g. janman (birth) and
janayitr (begetter); and past participle ja:ta, whence noun ja:ti ("birth").

>Sanskrit has a nasal present ...
>which is generally said to reflect a process,
>Latin uses -ske/o and Greek reduplication + -ske/o which are generally taken
>to represent iteration/duration. What was the original meaning?

In addition to the moderator's comments on Latin & Greek, a further
objection to this approach is that it is very difficult to ascribe clear
distinctions to the various present formations we find in PIE.

Peter