I-I metrics (was SV: method of dating RV, III)

[Jacob Baltuch]

Oops. I wrote:

>I can't resist quoting Beekes' short remark in the introductory part of his
>"Comparative IE Linguistics" (p.43) that "it is perhaps more likely that
>the Avestan system is the older of the two" since "in general, it is not
>very probable that metrical structures can be preserved over such a long
>time, that is, for 1500 to 2000 years" which is an absolute non sequitur.

I chopped part of my quote. Here it is:

"It is perhaps more likely that the Avestan system is the older
of the two. In general, it is not very probable that metrical
structures can be preserved over such a long time, that is,
for 1500 to 2000 years. It is, then, more probable that IE
verse consisted of a fixed number of syllables, as was the
case with Avestan".

Also I forgot to ask. In Skt 'gaatha' designates a stanza in
the aaryaa meter. Now the word is just from gai 'to sing' so
I don't know why there should be anything "deep" going in on
here, but is it all significant that Av. also uses that term?
More generally how do the non-Vedic IA meters relate to the
supposed IE or IIr schemes? Could it be that IIr prosody was
richer and more varied that is generally assumed and that there
were several concurrent systems used according to, say, tradition
or "repertoire"? (In that case the differences, ok, ok, the
minor differences between V. and Av. system would not be a problem
at all and there would be nothing to reconcile. That reminds me
also of the question of the Gk hexameter. I think some people
assumed it must have been borrowed from non-IE sources. But how
necessary is that?)