Cern (was: Reindeer domestication : two origins)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:

> On 2008-12-15 21:32, Joao S. Lopes wrote:
> >
> >
> > krios "ram"
> > hrinthar- "cow"
> > s^r.nga "horn"
> > xerut- "deer, stag"
> > kerambos, terambos "stagbeetle"
> >
> > Are they independent developments from same root k^erh- "head,

horn", or

> > may represent diverse PIE names from horned beasts?

> Some of them can't be derived from *k^erh2-. It seems that
> *k^erh2(-ser/n-) means basically 'head', while most 'horn(ed)' words are
> derived from *k^erh2w- (cervus, *xerut-, Slavic *korva 'cow', etc.),
> *k^ren- (Slavic *sIrna 'roe-deer', s'r.Nga-, perhaps Rind) and possibly
> *k^rei- (*xraina-, krios). As an intriguing complication, stagbeetles
> and hornets seem to have names derived from 'head' rather than 'horn'
> (*k^erh2-..., *k^r.h2-sr-e:n). We seem to be dealing with an ancient set
> of related roots with various pre-PIE "extensions", no longer analysable
> in the protolanguage. *k^ren- and *k^rei- are vocalised differently from
> *k^erh2-, since PIE did not allow two sonorants at the end of a root.

If you believe that, how would you explain Breton cern 'top (of
head/hill)'? There's also Cernunnos '*horned god' which should be old
enough for meaningful comparison.

Besides, I see no evidence that any particular ending changed 'head'
to 'horn' or that 'hornet' is a separate word (I'd say it was named by
synecdoche alone like 'feather/bird').