Re: [tied] bha_s.a_, 'language'

From: Miguel Carrasquer
Message: 12312
Date: 2002-02-08

On Fri, 08 Feb 2002 03:32:39 -0000, "kalyan97" <kalyan97@...>
wrote:

>What are the cognates in IE languages? bha_s.a_ is generally
>interpreted as: speech , language (esp. common or vernacular speech ,
>as opp. to Vedic or in later times to Sanskrit): Nir. Pa_n.ini. Mn.
>MBh.; name of Sarasvati_. Is this an instance of a Munda word in
>Sanskrit?

Pokorny's IEW says:

*bhel- "schallen, reden, brüllen, bellen"; Schallwurzel.
Ai. bha:s.á.h. 'bellend' (*bhel-s-), bha:s.ate 'redet, spricht,
plaudert'; bhan.d.ate (Dhatup.) 'spricht, höhnt, tadelt'
(*bhel-n-do:), bhán.ati 'redet, spricht' (bhel-no:) sind nach Kuiper
Proto-Munda 32f. nichtidg.

[*bhel- "to sound, to talk, to shout, to bark"; Onomatopoeic root.
Ai. bha:s.á.h. 'barking' (*bhel-s-), bha:s.ate 'talks, speaks,
chatters'; bhan.d.ate (Dhatup.) 'speaks, sneers, chides'
(*bhel-n-do:), bhán.ati 'talks, speaks' (bhel-no:) are non-IE
according to Kuiper Proto-Munda 32f.]


In context, I think this means that Julius would indeed connect the
words in question with the IE root *bhel-, but feels that he should
mention Kuiper's counterproposal about a possible Munda origin. Note
that German <bellen> "to bark"[1] is from the same root *bhel-.

>Can it be linked to va_k (va_c), word in Sanskrit?

No, that's IE *wo(:)kW-.

[1] A notorious source of confusion between German and Dutch (where
<bellen> means "to ring (a bell), to call (by telephone)"). In a
famous short story by Carmiggelt, a German tourist is left utterly
bewildered when an Amsterdam taxi-driver tells him: "Wenn Sie ein
Taxi wollen, mussen Sie bellen!").

=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...