Roe and cow (was: Slavic KYa(K))

From: Grzegorz Jagodzinski
Message: 50512
Date: 2007-11-15

----- Original Message -----
From: stlatos
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 11:50 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Slavic KYa(K)


>> 16. *korva "cow", note *sUrna "roe-deer";

> There's no reason these two need to be connected. *korwa:x shows k-
> everywhere.

There are two reasons.

The first reason is of semantic nature, both names can be derived from the
original meaning "horned animal", see Greek kera(w)ós "horned".

The second reason is that the phonetic structures of both words are enough
similar, and that differences are insufficient to see 2 different roots
here.

Besides k ~ s, we have or / Ur variation here. A trace of Slav. *kUrvU is
probably Old Polish karw "ox" (another hypothesis that it is Slavic *korvU
with Pomeranian-like -ar- without methatesis, is less probable because this
word was not limited to the northern part of the Polish territory). Note
that Eng. hart, German Hirsch, OGH heru3, Latin cervus point at *k^er-. From
Slavic words under question, neither *korva nor *kUrvU nor *sUrna have
IE -er-. The -r- (sonant) variant is attested in words meaning "horn".

The variation -v- / -n- is also not a serious reason. Latin and Greek forms
are from *k^erHwo- but not Germanic ones. Together with Slavic *sUrna we
have Old Latvian sirna (and modern stirna, and also Lith. stirna with
unexplained -t-) - but Prussian sirvis "roe-deer" without that
suspected -n-. Another Old Latvian form is reconstructed as *s^irvis (in the
period before s^ > s), hence the borowing in Finnish: hirvi "deer". Cf. also
Latin cornu "horn", Avestan srva: "horn" (note n : v!) and Skr. s'rNga- with
various suffixes.

Note also the intonation. Greek keraós and Slavic *kórva (acuted, cf. Russ.
koróva) point at IE *k^erH- ~ *k^orH-. Both Lith. st`irna and kárve. also
point at *k^VrH-

The problem with *korva / *sUrna may be however more complicated. An
assumption was made that the kentumic form is a borrowing from Venetian (or:
Italoid, as Piotr Ga,siorowski prefers; as for me, it is really not
important how we will call the Italic (Italish, Italoid) people whose
language influenced Slavic in the Past; the hypothesis that there is a
connection between that language and Veneti / Venedae living at the Vistula
mouth once seems to me to be rather probable, hence such a use of the term
"Venetic"). Anyway, Latin cerva "hind, she-deer" and Slavic *korva "cow" are
almost identical (but e : o). Personally, I have doubts because of the acute
intonation which suggests that *kórva = Lith. kárve. is inherited (and shows
"irregular" kentumization).

Grzegorz J.





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