*melh₂-

Reconstruction

LIV reconstructs *melh₂- 'to grind, to mill', with *h₂ because of Cuneiform Luwian mālhūta (“broke”), after Melchert.^[1] The Mycenaean word for 'female grinders' must then be assimilated from *mela-.^[1] Kloekhorst also writes *melh₂-: the laryngeal is needed for the Sanskrit nasal present and the Lithuanian acute, and Luwian shows that it was *h₂.^[2] De Vaan and Matasović write *melh₂-,^[3][4] Ringe *mélh₂-,^[5] but Kroonen *mólh₁-e-, with *h₁.^[6]

Watkins keeps a root *mel- 'soft' apart from *melə- 'to grind',^[7] and Mallory and Adams treat the root for 'dull or brownish black', Pokorny's *mel-, under a separate head.^[8] Zair holds that the root of Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós, “soft”) is not necessarily this one,^[9] but Kroonen derives Proto-Germanic *melda- (“mild”) from *melh₂-tó-.^[10]

Morphology

LIV reconstructs an amphidynamic root present *mélh₂-/ml̥h₂-, in Latin molō (“to grind”), Old Irish meilid (“grinds”) and Old Church Slavonic млѣти (mlěti, “to grind”); a u-present *mélh₂/ml̥h₂-u- in Luwian; an e-reduplicated present *mé-molh₂/ml̥h₂-, in Hittite malla-, doubtfully, Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌽 (malan, “to grind”) and Lithuanian málti (“to grind”); an s-aorist; and an iterative *molh₂-éi̯e-.^[1] LIV assigns the Vedic nasal present 'grinds' to *merh₂-.^[1]

Jasanoff takes the Hittite verb as an old athematic ḫi-verb, whose archaic 3rd singular adds the ending -i directly to the root.^[11] He finds the o-grade of the Germanic and Lithuanian verbs inherited, so the present was not simply *mélh₂e/o-.^[11][12] Kloekhorst instead takes the paradigm with the 3rd singular ending -ai as original, from *molh₂-ei, *mlh₂-enti.^[2]

Evidence

The root is cited below from Anatolian, Greek, Italic, Celtic, Germanic, Balto-Slavic and Tocharian;^[1] LIV and de Vaan also cite an Armenian verb 'to crush'.^[1][3] Since Friedrich the link between the Hittite verb and the other verbs for 'to mill' has been universally accepted.^[2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen reconstructs the laryngeal as *h₁ and puts the Sanskrit nasal present here, from *ml-néh₁-,^[6] whereas LIV and Kloekhorst have *h₂, and LIV gives the Sanskrit verb to *merh₂-.^[1][2]

Meanings

1. to grind, to mill,^[1][2] to crush^[3]

Luwian has 'to break', Umbrian 'to crush' and Tocharian B 'to deny'.^[1]

Derivatives

• *molh₂-h₂- 'mill, millstone': Latin mola (“millstone”).^[3]
• Greek μύλη (múlē, “handmill, mill”), whose u-vocalism Vine explains by raising.^[13]
• Proto-Celtic *mlāto/i- (“tender, soft”), with Middle Welsh blawd (“flour”).^[4]
• Lithuanian mìltai (“flour”).^[14]

Reflexes

• Anatolian: Hittite malla- (“to mill, to grind”).^[2]
• Greek: Ancient Greek μύλη (múlē, “handmill, mill”).^[13]
• Italic: Latin molō (“to grind”).^[3]
• Celtic: Old Irish meilid (“grinds”).^[15]
• Germanic: Proto-Germanic *malan- (“to grind”), Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌻𐌰𐌽 (malan).^[6]
• Slavic: Old Church Slavonic млѣти (mlěti, “to grind, to mill”).^[16]
• Baltic: Lithuanian málti (“to grind”).^[17]
• Tocharian: Tocharian B mällāstär (“denies”), in LIV's list.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *melh₂-
2. ^ a b c d e f Kloekhorst, Alwin (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon, Leiden: Brill, p. 547
3. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. molō
4. ^ a b Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 282
5. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 223
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 351
7. ^ Watkins, Calvert (2000), "Indo-European Roots", appendix to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. s.v. mel-
8. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q., eds. (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London: Fitzroy Dearborn, p. 107
9. ^ Zair, Nicholas (2012), The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 210
10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 362
11. ^ a b Jasanoff, Jay H. (2003), Hittite and the Indo-European Verb, Oxford: OUP, p. 65
12. ^ Jasanoff, Jay H. (2003), Hittite and the Indo-European Verb, Oxford: OUP, p. 66
13. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. μύλη
14. ^ Hock, Wolfgang, et al. (2015), Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (ALEW), online and Hamburg: Baar, p. s.v. mìltai
15. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 264
16. ^ Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 307
17. ^ Hock, Wolfgang, et al. (2015), Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (ALEW), online and Hamburg: Baar, p. s.v. málti