Paired Horse and PIE breakup

[Miguel Carrasquer Vidal]

"C.R. Selvakumar" <selvakum at VALLUVAR.UWATERLOO.CA> wrote:

>     Are there any better lists than Swadesh 100?
>     I remember that there was a list of 1000.

There is a list of 200 items, which Swadesh later reduced to 100.
Since the object of the list is to include only basic vocabulary
(assumed to be more resistant to change), less is better.

>      Interesting. Is it an accepted view that animate/inanimate(A-I)
>      classification is *prior* to the 'evolution' of the three genders?

Generally yes.  When Hittite was just discovered, it used to be
thought that Hittite had simply lost all the feautures that it lacked
compared to other IE languages.  Now it's becoming increasingly clear
that this is not always the case, and that Hittite generally
represents a more archaic state of affairs.  I think in the case of
feminine gender it is almost universally accepted that early PIE was
like Hittite in this respect (animate/inanimate), and the other
languages have innovated, by creating a feminine gender.


=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv at wxs.nl
Amsterdam