Re: [tied] Re: Post-Gothic "Getic" fantasies

Some afterthoughts: the Slavic noun *c^erpU < *kerpos means 'scoop' (hence also 'clay pot, potsherd, skull, carapace ...'). One early way of producing salt, known for example to the Neolithic (Lengyel culture) salt-makers at Wieliczka (S Poland), was to collect the salt water from brine springs in rectangular ponds; it was then drawn into large clay pots and heated in order to concentrate the solution; finally, small cuplike vessels were filled with the saturated brine, which crystallised into salt briquettes.

An alternative proposal: *krp-ah2 could be cognate to Slavic *krepno~ti 'solidify, become firm' (I suppose < *PIE *krep- 'body, shape', cf. Lat. corpus). It would then mean, aptly enough, 'something solidified'.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: Piotr Gasiorowski

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, April 05, 2002 8:24 PM

Subject: Re: [tied] Re: Post-Gothic "Getic" fantasies

I don't know if there is an accepted etymology of <kripë>. Formally, the simplest derivation would be from *krpa:, perhaps from the PIE root *kerp- 'pluck, collect' (Lat. carpo:), with a wide range of derived meanings (including Gk karpos 'fruit', Eng. harvest, etc.), unsurprisingly for such a general focal sense. The Slavic reflex of that etymon (*c^Irpati) means 'scoop, ladle out'; maybe the word refers to the way in which salt was obtained from brine. Any better suggestions?