Re: the furies and gorgones

From: m_iacomi
Message: 16313
Date: 2002-10-16

--- In cybalist@..., alexmoeller@... wrote:

> who doesnt remember of Furies or Gorgones of the old
> mythology?These bad girls with serpents in their unkempt hair,
> the fearfully beeings?
> I discussed with you once again the rom. words coama from
> latin coma and the another word "pleata " from slavian
> "pletU".
> Both of them meaning "long hair" one used form male ( coama)
> and one for female ( pleata).

Actually, the usual Romanian word reads "plete" (plural), not
"pleata" (singular) which is subdialectal. The distinction is
not quite between female & male subjects, <plete> being used
only for human beings and <coama> mostly for animals (but also
for people sometimes, one may guess in which sense :-)).

> At that time I was obliged to see the slavic influence here.
> And what did now changed?
> One epitet for these Furies. One epitet in greek language. And
> this is "daspletis"
> (delta-alpha-sigma-pi-lamda-eta-tau-iota-sigma)
> Where is this to find? In Odyssea, 15./324. The sentences is
> "Tea daspletis Erinos" translated "crinibus passis", where I
> have to say,I dont know what " crinibus passis" meant.

Check your sources. Odyssey 15.324 reads: "hoia te tois agathoisi
- paradrôôsi cherêes". In fact, the "Slavic metathesis" tricked you
once more, it's 15.234 which reads "tên hoi epi phresi thêke thea
dasplêtis - Erinus".
Dasplêtis means "horrid", "frightful". There is no "hair" word in
this context.

> I just see the entry in DEX for: despletit.
> despletit=2). with the hair in unorder,unkempt , etymology=
> prefix des+[îm]pleti: impleti= prefix im +pleti; pleti= long
> hair, etym. slavic pletU
>
> Is this a point where I have to think about or it is too , to
> weak and a coincidence more?

You may think about, even it's a coincidence. Just because it is
only a coincidence.

> One more regarding "des"
> In the "Acts of arvalian Brothers" was too an old expresion
> which was not understood anymore by latins.( like the all old
> religious songs).
> The word is "descindentes".The word was replaced later by "
> carmen dicentes" (Henzen p. CCIV, CCVIII)

Descindentes is from the verb <de:scindo, -ere> ("to divide").

> I see here again the romanian "descîntece/a descânta"= cf DEX
> to say magic formulas being accompanied by magic rituals for
> turning off a bad magie or to make a sick person to cure.

You may see anything you want, there is no relationship between
"to divide" and "to exorcise" in Latin & in Romanian.

> Teh word should be compossed by suffix "des" +cântec. And here
> this is funny:
> descântec= etym cf DEX des +cântec, cântec= lat,. canticum
> a descanta ( verb)= lat discantare

Cf. also Friulan <discanta> ("id.").

> lat. discantare= cf. my Stowasser dictionary=not to be found.
> I take a look at "cantare" and I find nothing but I find
> canto= to sing, to play, to blow, to speak, to repeat but , en
> fine , to enchant, to bewitch.. at least now I am happy with
> the sense of this.
> And now?Is this latin or is this word prelatin?

Of course is a late (vernacular) Latin construction. Invocation
of magic formulas is usually associated with some strange tunes
(a kind of psalmodies), this explains clearly the derivation from
the word for "to sing" in Latin. The prefix des- < dis- (Latin)
is _very_ common in Romanian, even if nowdays is mostly spelt
<dez-> (before voiced consonants).

Cheers,
Marius Iacomi