*m-l- “sweetness, honey”

SLOIA *medh/melit “sweet, honey”: *medhu “sweet” IE is found in madhu “sweet, honey, mead” Ved. madhu Avest. mdhw “wine” Sogd. (cf. mel “wine, from grapes” Burushaski) mit “honey” Toch. B me'thu “wine” etc. Greek it has spread to *mese, mete Uralic mete Finnish me'z “honey” Hungarian mi < *miet Chin. mil Sino-Korean mitsu < *mit(u) Jpn. *madhu > Iran. bal “honey” Turkish, Mongolian mAdI? Arabic and to > mot “intoxicating drink” Toch. B --- From another source **melit, me'lit- Greek milit Hitt. mel, mell- Latin milith Gothic in Nostratic (Illich-Svitych, Opyt II, Moskva 1976 : 38sq.) both forms are united under *majLa > *majdh'a' Ural. maTT, miTT Drav. /m/ala, bala Altaic cf. also, still further afield, in Polynesia: meli Samoan mele, meli; mele, melemele “yellow” Hawaiian miere Maori melie “sweetness, sweet, delicious” Tongan meli “honey” Rarotongan mere “honey” Mangareva SAPGOW 45: *mayl\V “honey” Proto-Nostratic > Proto-IndoEuropean, Proto-Uralic, Proto-Dravidian, Proto-Altaic *me,n “honey” Proto-Ge Back