Re: [tied] PIE word for "people"

From: Patrick Ryan
Message: 40934
Date: 2005-10-01

----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 10:57 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] PIE word for "people"


A fact that I have not mentioned in this discussion is the well-known Indian
epic poem, the Ramayana, whose protagonist is Ra:ma (note the long <a>). He
is the ideal man.

It is nearly incredible that he would be characterized as the 'black' one in
view of the entire social context of the epic.

What makes this even more interesting from the standpoint of the proposal
that PIE *ro:m- was a self-designation for very early man, is the existence
of another 'hero', OI Manu, the name for whom is generally acknowledged to
derive from PIE *monu-, '(hu)man'.

In my opinion, there is a strong parallelism at work here.

What do others think?

***