Re: [tied] Re: Out of the lion's range

----- Original Message -----

From: João Simões Lopes Filho

To: cybalist@egroups.com

Sent: Friday, October 06, 2000 1:06 AM

Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Out of the lion's range

All I'm sure of at the moment is that one of the many Biblical Hebrew words for 'lion' is layish, which some analyse as an epithet meaning 'crusher', and that Greek lis does look like a Semitic loan. Also Classical Armenian aRewc looks as if it had been taken from Aramaic 'aryeh/'ariy (hence the name Ariel, as in "The Tempest"!), again meaning something like 'plucker, hunter'. Egyptian rw/lw (Coptic laboi) represents another common Afroasiatic term, a potential source of *lew-on-. Perhaps Luwian walwa- (corresponding to Sumerian URMAH) is a semantic calque from Semitic (cf. Hittite walh- 'strike'). The standard Arabic word for 'lion' is asad, but of course there is almost no limit to what can be found in the infinity of the Arabian lexicon.

 

Piotr

 

 

 

Joao writes:

 

I think Hittite for lion is LAJISH, which is similar to Arabian Laith, Hebraic Laish, and Greek Lis.