Re: Regularized Inglish
| From: | Thomas R. Wier <artabanos@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, September 30, 1999, 2:04 |
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Nik Taylor wrote:
> John Cowan wrote:
> > Doo yoo really think of "is" as a verb stem "i-" followed by a 3sg
> > ending? I shure don't, despite the etymology.
>
> Well, not a verb stem "i-", but, nevertheless, I've always associated
> the {s} of {is} with the verbal -s, so it makes sense to use {s}, IMHO.
I don't think the <-s> ever *was* an ending. The form comes from
PIE *es-ti, the athematic ending IIRC, which makes the -s part of the
root *es- "be" rather than an ending.
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Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704 AIM: Deuterotom
Website: <http://www.angelfire.com/tx/eclectorium/>
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