There can be little doubt that Hoffmann is
right here. The use of archaic <paktHa-> with the meaning "fifth" is
documented in the RV itself (x.61.1) in the phrase <paktHe ahan> 'on
the fifth day'. The personal name Paktha- mirrors Lat. Quintus, and is
actually its cognate. The Indo-Iranian ordinal was *pak-tHa-, with the vocalism
of PIE *pnkW-to-; it is also reflected in Avestan puxDa- < Proto-Iranian
*paxTa-. Indo-Aryan <pan'ca-tHa-/pan'ca-ma-> are new analogical forms
modelled on the full form of the cardinal. Talageri does not analyse the names
he is comparing; he merely matches them impressionistically with
similar-sounding historical ethnonyms. This is a sure recipe for being wrong
most of the time.
Regards,
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 5:33 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: Swat River.
Note that the RV mentions a 'Paktha' who were defeated in the
Dasarajna war and Talageri
equates them to ansectors of Pathans (whereas
Hoffman says that the name simply means 'fifth').