Re: [tied] a(i)s-

On Sat, 29 Sep 2001 10:10:24 -0000, tgpedersen@... wrote:

>re: ais, eis (god, divinity).
>
>"
>Plural: aisar, aesar eisar, eiser, ais-er, ais-ar. Variants: aisuna
>(Rex Sacrorum), eisnev (priestly title), aineri ("to be worshipped"),
>aisna ("divine"). Cf. N. Picene aiten; Umbrian esono- Marrucian
>aisos, etc. all meaning `god" or related activities such as "worship"
>or "sacrifice.
>
>Benveniste proposed a connection with Celt. and Goth.*isarn (iron) as
>the "Celestial metal". ...

That's Celtic *i:sarnos -> Goth. <eisarn> /i:sarn/, with initial *ei-.

>If he is right, the word is also related
>to Skt. ayas (iron, metal), which is even closer to the Etruscan
>form, and also has the same meaning.

Skt. <ayas> does *not* mean "god".

>But then we also have a
>connection with Lat. aes, Teut. ais, Them. aisa, Germ. eisen, etc.,

Gmc. *aiz (> Eng. <ore>) has nothing to do with Gmc. *i:sarn- (> Eng.
<iron>). The froms <ayas>, <aiz>, <aes> etc. derive from a PIE *aio-
(*h2ai-o-) "copper (ore)".