From: Joao S. Lopes
Message: 62087
Date: 2008-12-15
On 2008-12-15 22:40, Joao S. Lopes wrote:
> I propose to discuss this meaning: why should "cow" be named something
> like the "horned"? In opposition to what? Cows are not "more horned"
> than oxen or bulls?
It seems that the original loan, *kar&wa- 'ox' (m.), was a reflex of
*k^erh2wo- (same as Lat. cervus 'deer, stag' and Gk. keraos 'horned').
Feminine *kar&wa: > Sl. *korwa was formed from the masculine by
Balto-Slavic speakers unaware of the etymology of the 'ox' word. Note
that Latin has <cerva> 'hind' despite the fact that hinds have no horns!
> Maybe in opposition to does? Maybe this name was
> originally applied to aurochs cows (I don't know if wild cows were
> horned or hornless).
They did have horns. But the Slavs had their own word for the aurochs,
*turU (< *tauros).
Piotr