--- In cybalist@..., Piotr Gasiorowski <piotr.gasiorowski@...>
wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: tgpedersen
> To: cybalist@...
> Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 1:08 PM
> Subject: [tied] Re: OE *picga
>
>
> Is that Russ. 'vorona' related the PIE *v-r-(t-) "turn" root (or
perhaps "raven" by metathesis?).
>
> Neither. It's Slavic *worna < Balto-Slavic *wa:rna:, a vr.ddhied
feminine derivative of masculine *warnas (Slavic *wornU) 'raven'
(a.k. [onomatopoeically] a. *krauk- in Balto-Slavic), perhaps
connected with Skt. varn.a- 'cloak, mantle; dye, colour, ink' (among
other things). The Germanic 'raven' word is *xrab(a)na-, ostensibly <
*krop-onó-, but perhaps an original *krokW-onó- is preferable, with
the sporadic *kW > *p change in pre-Gemanic.
>
> Piotr
Apologies for the 'raven' suggestion, that h- is embarassing, I
should have loked it up myself. Here's a tough one though:
Swedish 'korp' "raven" (Da. 'ravn'). Nationalecyklopädin (the only
source of Swedish etymology at my present disposal) says something
like "before 1520, O. Sw. korper, Nordic word, onomatopoeic". I
recall having seen it suggested that it was a Romance loan (taboo
word?), but from which Romance? It seems a bit far-fetched. Ordbog
over det ældre danske sprog has 'korp' as "Norwegian".
Torsten