In researching the topic of "crustacea
" I came across the following dilemma:
PIE has *krus-to- "that which has been hardened," from base *kreus- "to begin to freeze, form a crust". Until recently this was thought to be
exclusively Indo-European. However, this notion can be discarded when
compared with Classical Arabic (a non Indo-European language) which has the
term "qrs" with the exact range of meanings.
In general, a proto-language is
not known directly and its reconstruction is only arrived at by
comparing different members of the language family through the comparative
method. Yet an obvious complication occurs when the range of the isogloss
is spread across different language families. In this case, the inclusion
of the Arabic "qrs" a non Indo-European language. In such a
situation, the validity of the reconstruction of PIE is brought into question,
especially in light of Arabic which has two additional synonyms
such as "gld" for cold/snow and "frs" for frost, rendering
a loaned word situation less of a probability
If some might then suggest a Nostratic word, then this
isogloss inclusiveness reinforces further the repelling
of *kreus- as a valid PIE
reconstruction.
Below is the data
outlining the problem:
INDO-EUROPEAN
Crustacea 1814, from
Mod.L. neut. pl. of crustaceus (animalia), lit.
"having a crust or shell," from L. crusta "crust,
rind, bark, hard shell" (see crust). Taken as a zoological classification by Lamarck, 1801;
Cuvier (1798) had les insectes crustacées.
crust early 14c.,
"hard outer part of bread," from O.Fr. crouste (13c.,
Mod.Fr. croûte) and directly from L. crusta "rind, crust, shell, bark," from PIE *krus-to- "that which has been hardened," from base *kreus- "to begin to freeze, form a crust" (cf. Skt. krud- "make hard, thicken;" Avestan xruzdra- "hard;" Gk. krystallos
"ice, crystal," kryos "icy cold, frost;" Lett. kruwesis "frozen mud;" O.H.G. hrosa "ice, crust;" O.E. hruse
"earth;" O.N. hroðr "scurf"). Meaning "outer shell of
the earth" is from 1550s. As a verb, from late 14c. Related: Crusted; crusting.
CLASSICAL ARABIC "QRS" (from Lisan al-Arab)
قرس (لسان العرب)
القَرْسُ والقِرْسُ: أَبْرَدُ الصَّقيع وأَكثره وأَشدُّ
البَرْدِ
وقَرَسَ الماءَ يَقْرِسُ قَرْساً، فهو قَرِيسٌ:
جَمَدَ.
وقَرَّسْناه
وأَقْرَسْناه:
بَرَّدْناه.
ويقال: قَرَّسْت الماء في الشَّنِّ إِذا بَرَّدْته، وأَصبح الماء اليوم
قَرِيساً وقارساً أَي جامداً؛
وليست ذات قَرْسٍ أَي بَرْد.
وقَرَسَ البَرْدُ يَقْرِس قَرْساً: اشتدّ، وفيه لغة أُخرى قَرِسَ قَرَساً
والقَرِيس من الطعام: مشتق من القَرَس الجامِد، قال؛ وإِنما سمي
القريس قريساً لأَنه يجمُد
القَرْسُ: البَرْد
الشديد،
والبَرْدُ قارِسٌ وقَرِيْسٌ، ولا تَقُل قارِصٌ. وقَرَسَ الماءُ: أي جَمَدَ.
ويومٌ قارِسٌ وليلَةٌ قارِسَةٌ. وأصبح الماءُ اليومَ قَرِيْساً وقارِساً: أي
جامِداً
وقَرِس الإنسانُ قَرَساً، إذا لم يستطع أن يعمل
بيديه من شِدّة البَرد
or you can simply
view the respective translation of these definitions by clicling the
following URL:
Ishinan
Nov., 9, 2011