Re: Again with the PIE homeland thing- RE: *(s)teuros

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "stlatos" <stlatos@...> wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Jens Elmegård Rasmussen <elme@> wrote:

> > I have a second thought: It now looks to me more like a case of
> > borrowing back and forth. We may begin with IE *stéwH-ro-/*stuH-ró-,
> > whence German Stier and OIc. thjórr. That appears to have been
> > integrated into Semitic as *Tawr- (nom. *Tawr-u), which may in turn
> > have been borrowed back into IE yielding Lat. taurus, Gk. taûros,
> > Lith. tau~ras (Celtic *tarwos by adjustment to *karwos 'stag'). I
> > think that accomodates just about everything.
>
> Why should there be any original connection between *tauros and
> *stew-x-ros? One only means 'bull' and the other 'strong/big/old
> etc.' which could be applied to an ox or other kind of cattle but
> is not so applied in every IE language. It seems like nothing to
> indicate a common origin exists. Germanic is the only sub-branch
> that could be taken to indicate *teuros beside *tauros but that's
> almost certainly just contamination from *stew-x-ros > *steu-raz.

Even if *tauros also goes back to a PIE form, that still doesn't
prove any connection. It's possible that:


* tew-x+ 'protect, be strong'

* tew-x-ro+ 'protecting, strong'

* tew-x-ro+s 'bull protecting a herd'


* tew-x-ro+s met> * txau-ro+s (possibly influenced by * stxau-ro+s
'stake' as similar in form to 'horn').


The existence of *tew-x-ro+ may be helped by the need for both
*tew-x-no+ and *tew-x-to+ in Indo-Iranian.