Talk:Dorig language

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Etymology of DOR dō- and LKN jō-[edit]

While the meaning behind dō-/jō- is obscure, the consonant must go back to *ⁿd. Does it mean that the vowel goes back to a two-vowel sequence (since they are normally elided) and what possible PTB vowel combinations would lead to dō-/jō-? Kwékwlos (talk) 18:19, 1 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for being a year late, but since Dorig has the unusual property of deleting the first vowel, resulting in initial CC sequences, the initial component must have been of the form CVV, which reduces into a CV sequence. The two vowels, according to Francois (2005)'s charts in the two languages, can be narrowed down to *ua, *ue, or *uo. Thus, the protoform could either be *ⁿduariɣi, *ⁿdueriɣi, or *ⁿduoriɣi. Kwékwlos (talk) 23:56, 3 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Edit: By checking Codrington's Mota dictionary, I was able to find a word nua meaning "cliff". It seems that the protoform is *ⁿduariɣi, with the meaning "small cliff". Kwékwlos (talk) 00:03, 4 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Well done, Kʷékʷle! Placenames are not always easy to etymologize, but your reasoning is accurate, and your hypothesis is very convincing. -- Womtelo (talk) 09:07, 4 October 2023 (UTC).[reply]