Did there exist a proto-Aryan stem *sindhu- semant.= an ocean
frontier?
Cross-posted from IndianCivilization yahoogroup:
The name Hindu for Bha_rata may be explained as defining the
geographical frontiers of the nation.
In a superb essay, Paul Thieme elucidates the meaning of 'Hindu' in
ancient Sanskrit. He explains that the early meaning of 'sindhu'
should be: 'frontier (of the inhabited world)' in RV 7.87.6
The same semantic value, 'natural frontier' as formed by a 'big
river' or 'sea' is also vindicated by Avestan hindu-/hendu-. The
Avestan does not necessarily mean, '[the province] of Sind'
or 'India' (Yt. 8.32). The reference to Hindu- by Darius does not
refer to India but to the easternmost province of Darius' realm; it
is a name for the river Hindu-, just as Hara(h)uvati_ refers to the
river of the same name. This name Hara(h)uvati_ becomes Hravat,
Kravat, Croat and hence the perception of Croatians that they
are 'Sarasvats'.
Thus, Iranian 'Hindu-' is a natural frontier [not a loan from India]
and 'Sindhu-' of R.gvedic Bha_rata is a natural frontier formed by
the frontier-river which is like the ocean.
As a logical extension of this philological analysis, we may add that
Sindhu- (RV) changed to 'Hindu-' in the Vedic--Sanskrit--Pra_kr.t
tradition of Bha_rata, INDEPENDENT of the semantics of a frontier
assigned in Avestan and Old Persian.
See URL:
http://sarasvati.simplenet.com/thieme.htm