Odp: IE reds

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 283
Date: 1999-11-17

 
----- Original Message -----
From: Ivanovas/Milatos
To: cybalist@egroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 1999 1:16 AM
Subject: [cybalist] IE reds

Hello,
does anybody on this list have some reliable information about the (P)IE roots for the color RED or the material often used in ancient times for red coloring, ochre i.e. red iron oxide? In ancient Greek this material, also called minium nowadays (often confounded with cinnabar, HgS, unfortunately also called red lead - which is on the basis of mercury and also red-and very poisonous) was called 'miltos' - I suppose that word had already lost the 'red' word except for the 'l'.
On a mythological basis I'm following currently it looks as though there might be something like 'ra' or 'la'.
Thanks for your help.
Sabine

The one that is attested almost everywhere is *hroudho-/hrudh-ro- : Gk. eruthros, Skt. rudhiras, Lat ruber and rufus, English red (Germanic *raud-), Polish rudy 'red-haired, reddish', ruda 'ore, arch. mine'), rydz 'Lactarius rufus (an edible fungus)', Lith. ruduo 'autumn' and rudas 'red-haired', etc.
 
There are also some 'wormy' terms (insects of the genus Kermes were another source of a red dyestuff); these go back to the rather variable root *kwerm-~*kwerw-~*werm- 'worm'. The normal Polish word for 'red' belongs here: czerwony < *kw@...-i-no-, and vermilion is another example (derived from Lat. vermiculus).
 
Piotr