greek "sala-"
From: alex_lycos
Message: 17742
Date: 2003-01-18
Has anyone an idea about the etymology of Greek word "salamoura"?
So far I know an "s" before one vowel became aspirate in old Greek like
septa >hepta but I am not sure how this in coin was.
The question is interesting for me since Greek "salamoura"= brine and
the Greek word for salt is "alati". So the first part of the word "sala"
will point with first syllable from "alati" but not very correctly since
in Greek word for "salt" is no "s" there.
The second part of the word is "-moura" where I have no idea what in
Greek means.
The Romanian word is "saramoura"= brine and it is given as a loan from
new Greek.
In Romanian "sare"= salt and to soak = "a mura" where the composition
make sense sara-mura.
Since in the time of new Greek the rothacism should have be long time
closed in Romanian for intervocalic "l" ( this is an "official" point of
view") one could argue that the Romanians loaned the Greek "salamura"
and analogical with "sare"= salt, they changed it in "sare".
The example should be not singular since the new Greek word for rose =
triantafillo ( thirthy leafs) is in Romanian "trandafir" and the Greek
"-fillo" was adapted to the Romanian "fir"=thread, wire, see Latin
"filum". Why greek "t" became "d" in Rom. and why Greek "-ia-" became
"a", this is not important for now.
The question reduce himself to the "s" in the first part of the Greek
word and the meaning of Greek word "-moura" .Any ideas?
regards
Alex