Greek question & the pre-history of *nekwt
Glen Gordon
glengordon01 at hotmail.com
Wed Mar 17 01:04:27 UTC 1999
ME (GLEN):
I know Hittite <nekuz> cannot be feminine since it doesn't have this
gender thing. This is the neuter *-t/*-d found in words like *kwi-d
"what" and the heteroclitic declension: [nom-acc] **yekwn-d > *yekwr
"liver". Thus:
**nekw-d > *nekw-t TADAAAA!!!
MODERATOR:
Hittite does not have a separate feminine, but it does have an
opposition of common vs. neuter (or animate vs. inanimate). Hittite
_nekuz_ is of common gender, so I repeat the question: What neuter?
MIGUEL:
Or, put differently, what's the nominative -s doing in nekut-s?
Yes, I'm in deep error. I was starting to realise this when the
Anatolian form was spoken of like it was an animate noun. Whoops. There
goes my theory, down, down, CRASH!
--------------------------------------------
Glen Gordon
glengordon01 at hotmail.com
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