Apr. „riste“, lit. „rykštė“, lett. „rīkste“ und Verwandtschaft
Apr. „riste“, lit. „rykštė“, lett. „rīkste“ and Relatives

Summary/Abstract: OPr. riste ‘rod, switch’, Lith. rykštė, Latv. rikste have hitherto been connected with Lith. rišti ‘bind, tie, bundle’. Smoczynski has recently connected it with either Lith. rėžti ‘cut, scratch’ or rėkšti ‘gather’. Formerly terms like Lith. vytis, Old Latv. wihte rather than rykštė etc. were used for binding rods, which suggests a connection with Lith. rėžti ‘cut, scratch’ < PIE *ureh}g- ‘break, snap’. A reflex of the inherited zero grade might be Lith. viržis ‘heather’, formally divergent from Latv. virsis, Russ, eepecK ‘id.’. The renewed zero grade underlying Lith. rykštė appears also in ryžti ‘disappear; appear, bud etc.’, rykšti ‘fray out, decay’. The change ž > š could have been induced by following consonants, e. g. -sta- in the present *ryž-sta or by /c-insertion. Lith. ruošti, ruošti ‘prepare, make household work’ could also belong here if it continues ruožti ‘cleanse, sweep’. The new zero grade underlies new ablaut series, cf. Lith. ražas ‘stubble, old broom’, raižyti ‘cut, scratch’ etc. Lith. ryškus, raiškus ‘clear, distinct’, ryškėti ‘become distinct’, raiška ‘meaning, expression’, reikšti ‘mean’ could also be based on rykšti ‘appear, become visible’, similarly Lith. raštas, Latv. raksts ‘writing, pattern’ from ‘scratched sign’.

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