Re: I need help explaining basic linguistic concepts to a lay person


>"Neeraj Mathur" <neemathur@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:dq38ij$d2o$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Both IE *bh- and *dh- in initial positions yield a Latin f- (cf. stems fu-
> (fuit, futurus, etc) from *bheu- (Grk phu-, Skt bhu), and fe- (fecit),
> from *dheH- (Grk tithemi, Skt dha:).

Neeraj, from my limited knowledge of Germanic languages, the dh is sounded
out as th. For example: Heidhi is sounded out as Heithi. Am I to
understand that the Latin took both the bh and dh to sound out as f? So,
if a Latin speaker were to see the word Heidhi, they'd pronounce it as
Heifi?

I would very much like to know more about how the dh came about to assume
that Latin f.

>Neeraj wrote:
> The reason, I'm sure, for the lack of certainty in the case of the 'suck'
> verb is the -l- it's got, which strikes me as very strange. *dheHl- does
> not strike me as a normal-looking IE root; in any case, explaining what
> that -l- is and, more importantly, why it's not there in fe:mina is a bit
> problematic. The proposed derivation from *bheu- might be easier:
> *bheumen- might give fe:min- with perhaps a labial dissimilation. The
> meaning would also work, since *bheu- often seems to contrast with *Hes-
> in that the latter is more or less timeless, while *bheu- has a starting
> point ('become, produce, be from birth').

I can understand how the bh could end up sounding like an f. That dh,
however, appears somewhat problematic.

Heidi



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