Re: Arya-

--- In cybalist@..., "Christopher Gwinn" <sonno3@...> wrote:

> Piotr wrote:
> > I don't think that cognates of *arja- and *a:r(i)ja- are
> > attested in IE branches other than Indo-Iranian, or that an
> > original meaning like "noble, honourable" or "high, lofty,
> > etc." can be attributed to these terms. The idea that other
> > IE groups (the Irish, in particular) called themselves the
> > Aryas in ancient times is a 19th-century myth.
>
> What would you then make of Gaulish Ariios and Ariomanus (seems to

look an

> awful lot like Vedic Aryaman) as well as Irish Aire and perhaps

even Eremon

> (may be the Irish equivalent of Gaulish Ariomanus, as Old Irish er-

can

> occasionally stand for air-)? What of Old Norse nom. pl. arjoster

which

> Pokorny has as "Vornehmsten"?
>
> Old Irish Aire definitely meant "lord/chief", but can also mean, in

a legal

> sense, every freeman, commoner and noble that possesses independent

legal

> status.
>
> I guess the question is whether or not Gaulish Ariios and Irish

Aire come

> from PIE *aryo- or perhaps from PIE *Peri-. I do not think that the

original

> PIE speakers called themselves "Aryans," but it does seem likely

that they

> had a legal term for "Freemen".
>
> -Chris Gwinn

Møller in "Indogermanisces und Semitisches" has this to say:

Urspr. *H-r-, indoger. *ar- im Adj. *ario- (europ. in Ario-Vistus),
sanskr. árja- altiran. avest. airja- 'arisch, Arier'; semit.
redupliziert *H-r-r-, arab. Perf. Harra 'was freeborn, of free
origin', Hurrun 'generous, noble, free, ingenious, freeborn', Plur.
hebr. Ho:rim 'die Edlen, Freigeborenen'

Footnote:
Das Vorhandensein dieses Wortes im Semitischen lässt es unstatthaft
erscheinen speziell die Indogermanen im Gegensatz zu den
Semiten 'Arier' zu nennen (während dieser Name in enger Bedeteung als
zusammenfassende Benennung der Indoiranier mit gutem Grunde gebraucht
werden kann).

Approximately:
The occurrence of this word in the Semitic languages makes it seem
inappropriate to apply the term 'Aryan' to the Indoeuropeans in
particular as opposed to the Semites (while this name in a narrow
sense may be used with good reason as a comprehensive term for Indo-
Iranians).

Said footnote probably did little to endear him to the then German
linguistic community, with to-be-expected results for the success of
his work.

Torsten