The name is Getic, in the first place, and
I don't think a careful distiction between Getic (Dacian) and
Thracian is unnecessary pedantry. Secondly, its etymology is anything but
certain; it's even hard to tell if the first element was <zamol-> or
<zalmo->. <zalmos> is cited by Porphyry as the Thracian word for 'a
skin', which is a rather far shot from <hilms> (*xelmaz < *k^el-mo-),
and shows non-matching vocalism.
I do not trust Thracian etymologies based
on loose similarities and unverifiable interpretations. The Greeks may have
hesitated occasionally over the choice of zeta or sigma to
represent foreign /z/, but there's no real evidence of s-voicing in the
Thracian. Sure cases of etymological *s and *k^ (e.g. hydronyms like
Serme:/Sermius < *ser-mo- 'current, flow') contain <s> in Greek and
Latin orthography.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 1:05 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Scythians, Zoroastrians, etc.
For what it's worth: Detschew and others relate *zalmo- of
Zalmoxis with Goth. hilm-s "helmet" etc. In other words Thracian z- should be
cognate with PIE *k. Perhaps Thracian voiced initial <s> like German (at
least in some contexts)? Thus *sura > zura?