Re: [tied] Bronze.

----- Original Message -----

From: Mark Odegard

To: cybalist@egroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2000 10:23 PM

Subject: [tied] Bronze.

This has little to do with iron. The word sidabras is the same as Old Prussian siraplis, Slavic *serbro, Gothic silubr, OHG silabar, OE seolfor (< *sil(V)bra-), etc. (metathesis, assimilation and dissimilation are not surprising in a word with two liquids). It's the north European Wanderwort for 'silver', of western (Iberian?) origin (Basque zillar < Old Basque *silbarr, hence Ibero-Celtic s'ilaPur'). I fail to see how sintar could belong here, especially as it doesn't match the other words phonologically.

 

 

Piotr

 

 

 

EIEC (Martin Huld), under "Iron" notes the various words used for iron.

 

"the irregular relationship of the consonants in the putative equation of Lith sidabras and OHG sintar (defying Grimm's Law) and the anomalous nasal of the Germanic form indicate a loan source in Balto-Slavic, Germanic, or both. These loans may suggest than an active (non-Indo-European?) metallurgical tradition survived in central Europe until the Iron Age."