Torsten is right. Apart from other
consideration, the *-es-stem abstract noun *wen-es- (Nom./Acc. *wenos) is
attested outside Latin (Skt. vanas- 'desire, charm'), and Latin venus, veneris
is also a common noun meaning 'charm, loveliness; love'. It must have been a
neuter originally (like <genus, generis> etc.), as in Sanskrit, but the
personification of "Charm" as Venus caused a gender shift in the noun itself.
This evidently took place rather late, as there was no adjustment of the
structure of the word, such as would have accompanied the "neuter >
non-neuter" shift in a PIE consonantal stem.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 12:10 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Uni (was: Odin as a Trojan Prince)
>> [Alexander:] Can not Roman Venus be produced from
Etruscan Uni as well ? ...
>> ... So Etruscan Uni would be represented
in the Roman mythology twice - as
Juno (~ Hera) and Venus (~ Aphrodite).
IMHO.
Isn't *w-n- "friend; desire" IE?
Torsten