solution to the "kuyava' etymology

[Bh. Krishnamurti]

At 03:54 20/01/98 EST, you wrote:

 >DED 2794
>tuvaRal - raining, drizzling, sprinkling
>tURal - drizzling
>

Exceptions do not invalidate rules. DEDR 3398. In the case of Ta. tuvaR-:
tu:R-, there is no guarantee that the underlying V2 was a and not i or
u.Here the ultimate root seems to be *tum- which occurs in a closed syllable
(cf. Tel. tumpara, tuppara); Tamil has tum-i 'drizzle'. The order of change
was *tum-V- >*tuw-V- > tu:-. If you go through the DED or DEDR you can see
scores of cases where the quality of the formative vowel is variable; since
I showed contrasts mik-al >me:l, but mik-u >mi: type, the uderlying form
wherever there is V1 lengthened without changing its quality, the suffix
vowel has got to be a high vowel; thus Telugu nivuRu > ni:Ru is better
explained than taking Ta. nivaRu and saying that the rule is invalidated.You
need to judge the other cases in the same light. There are several
etymologies given in TVB 40 years ago which need to be changed. Please note
there was no DED when I worked out these etymologies.
        In reconstruction we set up intermediate stages on the basis of
established correlations or patterns, e.g. pesar > peyar > pe:r; similarly
mosaru > *moyar (no where attested) > mo:r (DEDR 4902)(Ta.has mocar, mo:r,
Ma. mo:r,Ko. Ka. have the c/s forms); in terms of natural phonology, without
the intermediate y form, you cannot have contraction. Since it is not
attested you cannot call the rule is invalid.


>As for the process of one-way change of "-c-" to "-y-", is it universal? Then,
>can somebody explain the following? In DED, we find the following.

>*kAy,  to grow hot, burn, etc. - Ta. kAy; Ma. kAyuka to be hot, To. ko.y-
(ko.c-) to be hot; Tu. kAyuni to be hot; Go. kAsAnA to become hot.
>*koy, to pluck leaves, flowers, reap, harvest, etc. - Ta. koy; Ko. koy- (koc-)
>to cut; To. kwIy- (kwIs-) to pluck fruits, Go. kOiyAna harvest wheat or crops,
>etc., (M) koidAna to reap; Kur.  khoynA (khoss-) to cut down grass and the
>like with the sickle, mow, reap
>*kAy and *koy are PDr forms reconstructed by Dr. Krishnamurthy in his TVB.
>Clearly, we have here "y" changing to "c"/"s"/"t".  In what way, is the
>"kuyava"/"kucava" problem different, if we assume "kuy" is the base?

Go. ka:s is a restuctured stem from the past ka:si:, just like Modern Telugu
has ka:s-tu:; I discussed elsewhere how the roots have incorporated tense
morphemes and got restructured. (Also discussed in TVB); in the case of koy
what you find in parenthese are past stems with c/t in Sandhi. Kota koy-t
--> koc; so  also Toda; Kur. khoss- is past stem; -ss- is past tense marker
in Kur-Malto.

>Now why do I say, "kuy" might be a possible base. There is a stock Tamil
>expression which is considered by Madras University lexicon as just
>onomatopoetic expression signifying loud complaint. The expression is "kuyyO
>muRaiyO" describing how one laments. It can be interpreted as consisting of
>two words. The second word "muRaiyO" means "Is it lawful/just?". ("muRai"
>means law or justice.) The first part can be interpreted as "O kuy!" calling
>for "kuy". If the original meaning of "kuy" was "some higher authority like
>king or chief", it will make perfect sense. After all, from whom will one seek
>justice?

Telugu also has kuyyo: moRRo:; This root kuy- is related to PD *ku: 'crow,
cry, shout, call' etc. How in the world can it be the basis of kuy-awa..
'potter'
on this root?

>This is not as outlandish as one might think. Consider the interjection of
>grief "aiyO". DEDR considers this related to the word "ai" meaning "lord,
>master, husband, king, guru, priest, teacher, father". So DEDR lists the two
>words as 196 (b) and 196 (a) respectively. The meaning of "kuyyO" has not been
>understood till now. Ultimately, this "kuy" may be related to "ku" meaning
>"high place" (or hill as Dr. Krishnamurthy pointed out) which can also be
>applied to a king. Compare the parallel similar concepts in Sanskrit "ka'kuda"

This I must say is imagination running riot; not the science of etymology.
Thanks.
Bh.K.
end
Bh. Krishnamurti
H.No. 12-13-1233, "Bhaarati"
Street No.9, Tarnaka
Hyderabad 500 017, A.P.
India
Telephone (R)(40)701 9665
E-mail: <bhk at HD1.VSNL.NET.IN>[all small letters]