--- In cybalist@..., "S.Kalyanaraman" <kalyan97@...> wrote:
> Did there exist a proto-Aryan stem *sindhu- semant.= an ocean
> frontier?> See URL: http://sarasvati.simplenet.com/thieme.htm
Some additional thoughts.
Discussing nominal formations in -u-, Paul Thieme posits a present
stem *sinadh-/*sindh- as a starting point for sindhu-. He connects
this stem with the root sidh (usual present stem sedha-) 'to drive
off, ward off', thus arriving at a sindhu- 'he/she who wards
off,keeps away, that is, 'a natural frontier'.
This position finds a remarkable confirmation in the following
lexemes of Santali, Ho and Mund.a_ri: semant. streams: 1) ridge; 2)
ancient times: referring respectively to formation of boundaries and
to the possible memories of Munda presence in the boundary region.
sindir = n. a ridge; adj. ridgy, undulating; v. to leave a ridge
(ploughing); sindir te calakme = go along this ridge; bogeteko sindir
akata = they have left a good many ridges between the furrows
(Santali); sindri jan = the bakcbone (Mun.d.a_ri)
sida (Ho.Mun.d.a_ri); sedac (Santali) = Ancient, oldent imes; long
ago, a long time ago, formerly; Nui har.am do sedacren hor. kanae =
this old man is a man of olden times (Santali.lex).
Is it plausible that 'sindir' was the substratum which rendered the
root sedha = keeping or driving away; and derivative, nis.edha =
prohibition (Skt.)