Re: CHAT: Lost (was: Azurian.)

Hi!

Eugene Oh writes:
> 2007/8/10, Alex Fink <a4pq1injbok_0@...>:
> > Sounds like _foremost_.  http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=foremost says
> > | O.E. fyrmest "earliest, first, most prominent," from P.Gmc. *formo-
> > | (related to O.E. fruma "beginning"), superl. of the root of Eng. fore +
> > | additional superl. suffix -est. Cf. O.Fris. formest, Goth. frumists.
> > | Altered on the assumption that it is a compound of fore and most.
> >
> > Alex
> >
>
> Wait a minute, I thought P.Gmc wasn't supposed to have /o/, or was I
> mistaken?
There the the IE>PG shift of /a:/ > /o:/, so long /o:/ is certainly
there.  However, due to IE /o/ > PG /a/, the short /o/ is at least
seldom.  Still, Köbler's PG dict lists a few words containing /o/,
e.g.  a stem _for_, but along with an alternative _fur_, for _before_.
It also lists _fruma(z)_ 'first, formost, ...'  There is a verb
_frumjan_ 'to convey, to deliver (German: _fördern_).

**Henrik