Albanian 'hart'

From: Abdullah Konushevci
Message: 34551
Date: 2004-10-07

Following my view that PIE /*y/ yields in Alb. /z/ and that most
stops are nasalized, I came to conclusion that *ye:kWr.- `liver' in
a nasalized form *ye:mkW-er- yields in Albanian <zemër> `hart,
middle', from a much older form <zembër>, due to assimilation of
cluster /mb/ to /m/. Alb. adjective <zemërak> `liverish',
<zemëroj> `irritate, anger' preserved much better the primary
meaning of *ye:kWr.- (cf. gr. hepar, -atos `liver', pers.
<jigar> `id.' entered also in Serbian <dzigerica> and in Albanian
expression <Ma hangre xhigerin> "You eat my liver with meaning <You
irritate me too much>' , synonymic with expression <Ma hangre
zemrën> `You eat my hart, you irritate me too much'.
About its etymology Orel writes: "A difficult word without any
reliable explanation. • MEYER Wb. 483 (compare with Geg <zê> `soul'
and connects <zemër> with <zë> `to seize'); WIEDMAN BB XXVII 202 (to
ON <gaman> `joy'); JOKL Mélanges Pedersen 128 (from IE *ghen-, cf.
Gk. eutheneo `to blossom' and its cognates); TAGLIAVINI Dalmazia
293, Stratificazione 99-100 (agrees with Jokl); ÇABEJ ZfPhonetik IX
212 f. (follows MEYER); HAAS 166 (to Phryg kimeros nous, Hes.); HULD
132-133; LIUKKONEN SSF X 59 (to Lith <juosmuo `belt').
I really wish to know what Mr. Rasmussen and others thinks about
this very hard, but very important Albanian word.

Konushevci