Re: [tied] Sabazios

Of course <sobota> or <so~bota> 'Saturday' is _not_ a native Slavic term but a Judaeo-Christian Wanderwort (meaning 'sabbath'). The source was Latin <sabbatum> (cf. Goth. sabbatus, Sp. sábado, It. sabbato, Mod.Gk. sábbato) and its popular variant <sambatum> (cf. Fr. samedi, Ger. Samstag). In Vulgar Latin <dies sabbati> or <dies sambati> was used as a synonym of <dies Saturni>. This 'sabbath' word (borrowed also into Hungarian as <szombat>) is ultimately of Hebrew origin (<s^abba:t>) and has nothing to do with Thracian.

The name Sabazios perhaps reflects *swobHo-dH(h1)-jo- (Thracian -z- may come from *-dj- < *-dHj-), based on a word meaning 'free', with Slavic cognates (e.g. *svobodI 'free', *svoboda 'freedom') but unrelated to the 'Saturday' word.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: altamix

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 6:29 PM

Subject: [tied] Sabazios

Hi together. Researching about the day of the weeks, I found out that into romanian saturday is called "sa:mba:ta:" The ethymology for this word is proposed to be the slavic vord "sonbota" I ask myself if ther could be a link between the actual name and the old thracian god, Sabazios.We have to remeber even the family name of Justinian was "Sabbatos". And more over, is sonbota a typicaly slavic word?I have somehow the feeling this is a loanword from somewhere else, but I will be pleased to hear your opinions. regards