Re: [tied] Green

----- Original Message -----
From: "Piotr Gasiorowski" <piotr.gasiorowski@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 4:16 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Green


>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Patrick C. Ryan" <proto-language@...>
> To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 8:29 PM
> Subject: Re: [tied] Green
>
>
> > A prime example is Hieroglyphic Egyptian w3D, 'green'.
>
> > Egyptian [3] is known to originally have been a kind of /r/ contrasting with [r].
>
> Yes, but I was talking of IE, since Alex supposed that the PIE root *werdH- (which _doesn't_ mean 'green') might have developed derivatives meaning 'green'. I'm sure that if one casts one's nest far and wide, finding a language, somewhere on earth, in which something like /werd/ means, or used to mean, or might have meant something not unlike 'green' is just a matter of patience.
>
> Piotr

[PCR]
Piotr's reluctance to accept the Nostratic Hypothesis (mine or anyone else's version) is well-known to readers of this list.

I have provided literally hundreds of etymologies at my website showing the regular correspondences of Egyptian [w] to IE [w], Egyptian [3] to IE [r], and Egyptian [D] to IE [dh/t(h)].

Therefore, it is misleading to readers of this list to suggest that "if one casts one's net far and wide, finding a language, somewhere ...", implying that we have a simple unmotivated coincidence. This is the first argument advanced by anyone who is not willing to evaluate the evidence, and refute the proposed correspondences if they cannot be consistently demonstrated.

In my opinion, all IE color words have direct or indirect reference to objects which were characterized by the color. In the case of Latin viridis, the most closely related IE root is *w(e)ra:d-, which has the primary meaning of 'young leaf' or 'shoot'; a root which I also believe is closely related to *werdh-, 'grow'.

What is particularly interesting about [w3D] is that it is attested as very old (4-5kbp), and this has a bearing on the discussion of just when color words originated.

I also believe that color words are particularly susceptible to being replaced by newer and more effective or dramatic objects of reference.


Pat



PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE@... (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE: http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/ and PROTO-RELIGION: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ec at ec hecc, vindgá meiði a netr allar nío, geiri vndaþr . . . a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn." (Hávamál 138)