Re: Primary Interjections - Universals?

> Date:         Fri, 5 Apr 2002 21:32:12 -0600
> From: Danny Wier <dawier@...>
>
> From: "Roger Christian" <rogchr75@...>
>
> | For example, compare the following interjections which
> | indicate pain or a bad surprise:
> |
> | English            ow (pronounced /au/)
> | French/Spanish     aie/ay (both pronounced /ay/)
> | Swedish            aj (pronounced /ay/)
> | Icelandic         /ay/ & /au/
>
> Pokorny (or at least Wier) reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *wai.
> Even Latin has _vae_. Exactly the reverse of Arabic (and probably
> Common Semitic) _ya_ "oh", which functions more like a vocative
> marker.
Pokorny is probably right to reconstruct this --- for instance, Danish
has ve as both a (obsolete) interjection of pain or regret, and as a
noun for a contraction in childbirth. But it does not seem to be
cognate to any of the words above.

Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)