--- In cybalist@..., tgpedersen@... wrote:
>
> Right. Thanks. Will do. BTW is there anyway that *aors- and *as-
> might be related?
>
> Torsten
This is a question that has bothered me for a long time. Most
of my books say that As- < Aors- but this doesn't make sense to
me since Ossetic reflexes of words that had 'r' in this position
at this period haven't lost it and at the same time or earlier
that we hear of the Aorsi we also have the As/Asi/Asioi/Asianoi.
It seems to me that the As and Aorsi are distinct and that Aorsi
is likely to be connected to the root in the Ossetic urs "white".
I wish that a professional linguist could be coaxed into looking
into it. What sound does 'ao' represent in Greek at this period?
Is it bisyllabic or a diphthong? Have I got the time periods of
the As and Aorsi mixed up? Is there proof positive that As and
Aorsi referred to the same people? Could the name As be of Altaic
or Tocharian origin? Not that I'm endorsing the "Sarmatians were
Turks" theory, but a N.E. Iranic tribe could have formed around an
originally Altaic or Tocharian core.
-David