Re: PIE *h1eish2-: 'mad attack'?

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Francesco Brighenti" <frabrig@...>
wrote:

>
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> I have a query relating to the PIE root *h1eish2- (as given in
> Mayrhofer's EWAia; in Pokorny it is *eis-1) 'to send (move rapidly,
> set in motion)'. This root appears in several IE words
> denoting furious passion:
>
> Avestan ae:s^ma- (from the suffixed IE form *eis-mo-) 'anger'
>
> Old Indo-Aryan is.min (from the suffixed IE form *eis-mo-
> ) 'impetuous' (= furious), an adjective appearing four times in

the

> RV to characterize the wild and impetuous entry of the storm-gods
> Maruts and of their father Rudra
>
> Latin i:ra-, having a more archaic form (attested in Plautus) eira-
> (from the suffixed IE form *eis-a:-) 'anger, rage'
>
> Greek oima- (from the suffixed IE form with o-grade ablaut *ois-ma-
> ) 'stormy attack, rush, instigation', oistros- (from the suffixed

IE

> form with o-grade ablaut *ois-tro-) 'madness'
>
> Old Norse eisa- (from the IE form with o-grade ablaut *ois-) 'to
> storm in'
>
> According to G. Dumézil (quoted in M. Speidel, "Berserks: A History
> of Indo-European 'Mad Warriors'", _Journal of World History_ 13,
> [2002], pp. 277-8), Pokorny's PIE root *eis-1 would constitute "a
> technical term of the Indo-European 'warrior bands' [who fought
> madly and wildly, and were 'specialized' in going berserk]", i.e.,

a

> term originally designating a mad attack, and only in a wider
> sense 'to send, move rapidly, set in motion'.
>
> Is this thesis plausible?
>
> Best,
> Francesco

************
If it is of any help, I will add some additional examples form
Mallory-Adams: *H1oistro/eHa- 'anger, any strong feeling' (e.g.
Lith. aistra 'passion', Grk oistros 'gadfly, sting, anger'; from
*H1eis- 'set in motion'; oistros is borrowed via Latin, in NE estrus.
In Indo-Iranian cognates, eg. Skt isna:ti and Av ae:š-, do
indicate 'set in motion' while other cognates indicate slightly
different activities, e.g. ON eisa 'go dashing' or, further removed,
Grk inao: 'pour'.
I think that also Alb josh 'to attract, draw, fondle' could be a
derivative of contracted form *H1e:s-o, for it cannot be connected
with *yeudh- as Orel thinks, because *y- would have yielded gj- or z-
, till *h1e-, as in *H1es-mi > Alb jam '(I) am' shows that *H1e-
/*H1e:- yields also /j/; *H1eg'hs-tos > jashtë 'outside'. But, zero-
grade form *H1is-n-yo have yielded Alb hij 'to hit' from < hinjo.

Konushevci