Re: Slavery and Slave trade in Antiquity II: *xolp-/*kolp-

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

>
> > That's right, but please notice servus has nothing to do with
> > servo: 'to watch', in spite of De Vaan conflating both words. His
> > dictionary is a rather mediocre work, unworthy of its monetary
> > price.
>
> Yes, you keep saying that. I am not quoting de Vaan, on servus and servare I'm quoting Ernout-Meillet. The attempted connection between seruus and seruare apparently goes back at least to Justinian.
>

I know you quoted E-M's, and despite its age, I think it's a far better work than De Vaan's.

Another Latin word incorrectly etymologized by Lubotsky's pupil is cavea 'cage', which he links to cavus 'hollow' following Varro. However, I'd prefer a "pars pro toto" etymology from a root 'stick' found in:

Kartvelian *k'ap'- 'stick; pole, post'
IE *g^obh- 'stick, branch' (Baltic, Germanic)
IE *ghabh-Vl- 'fork, branch' (Celtic, Germanic)
Altaic *kabari 'oar'
Sanskrit kú:bara-, kú:bari: 'the pole of a carriage or the wooden frame to which the yoke is fixed', Greek kuberná:o 'to control, to direct, to govern'