Re: Why borrow 'seven'? (was: IE right & 10)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
> wrote:
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Exu Yangi" <exuyangi@...>

wrote:

> > No later than Genesis was written down, I suppose, which

contains

> > the tern shabbath. Is that too late for the word to spread?
> >
> >
> > >Perhaps not four groups of
> > > seven, but seven groups of four?
> > >
> > Like the seven phases of the moon?
> >
> >
> > > As for being a taboo word, and hence borrowed from elsewhere --

-

> > usually
> > > taboo words find their replacements from within the native
> stock.
> > Withness
> > > Japanese shi (death;four) being replaced from another counting
> > heirarchy.
> >
> > But no one called it a taboo replacement or noa word.
>
> That was my suggestion. It was one mechanism I could think of for
> widespread (IE, Etruscan & Uralic at least) replacement.
>

But if it were a noa word it would have had to replace several
presumably _different_ words in IE, Etruscan and Uralic. Unless it
was the concept of sevenness itself that was taboo'ed
(independently?) in these three groups, but what would then be the
idea behind replacing it with a common loan?

Torsten