Re: [tied] "Head" words

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:

> 26-07-03 12:37, Richard Wordingham wrote:
>
> > It could be, but I strongly suggest a connection with Sanskrit

kapa:lam

> > 'skull, pan', and thus a match with the Greek. There does seem

to be a lot

> > of irregularity in the IE matches - Latin caput but Germanic

*xaubudam (>

> > English head).
>
>
> The relationship between Lat. caput (*kap-ut-) and Gmc. *xaubVda-

is

> indeed irregular, but contamination of the latter with *xu:b-o:n-

'head

> covering' or a related word may explain the aberrant vocalism of

the

> initial syllable.

It sounds like some German linguist thought: 'Haupt' because
of 'Haube'. By that logic English would have *'had' for 'head' to
match the vowel of 'hat'.

But cf Schrijver's 'language of bird names'. One item:

Lat. raudus 'lump of ore'
OHG aruz, ariz "ore"
Finnish rauta "iron"
ON rauDi

cf with

Lat kapu/it-
OHG xaubVda

I'd say the pattern is suspiciciously similar.

as for provenance cf Sumerian urudu "copper"

And if the word first meant "copper", PIE *h1reudH- "red" might be
secondary ("copper-colored").

Torsten