Le nom indo-européen de l'h?te

摘要

The following paper is intended to propose a new morphological analysis of the PIE name for 'guest' (~*g~hós-ti-). This word has been widely assumed to be linked to the PIE root *g~hes 'eat' (reflected by Ved. √ghas 'eat, devour'), without explaining the oddity of this apparent o-grade agent-noun ~* g~hós-ti- m. 'table companion'. So far, no conclusive evidence can be found for a word built on the same pattern. Furthermore, it may seem quite difficult to give an account for the Lat. hospes m. meaning both 'guest' and 'host', like the French word h?te (borrowed as Engl. host at an early stage). We argue here that this PIE ~*g~hós-ti- is a back-formation made on an old collective stem ~*ghós-t-ōi f. 'table, group of table companions' (including both the host and his guests). This very form ~*g~h?s-t-ōi would eventually reflect an acrostatic stem ~*g~hós-t- f. 'common meal'.