Piotr Gasiorowski wrote:
The Thracian word for 'horse' seems to have been <esba-(s?)/ezba->
> (perhaps phonetically [ezva-])
>
> Piotr
I am afraid I have to say something else about Thracian word, Piotr.
You said that proto-celtic was *ekwos which is right.An another word in
Celtic was "marco". You will wonder but this word survived . In may
opinion this can be the actually rom. word "martsoaga"= jade, "silly"
horse.
About the form "cabalos" which beginning within a time, is attested in
Latin too, there is said this has too Celtic cognates. I cannot let, but
I remember that in the neighbourhood of the Cerbatis, in Moesia Inferior
there was a city (and this city is even today) called Callatis (actualy
Constanta) supposed to be called so because of the horses there.
I have to check now to remember where I read about the name of the city
that should be a Thracian one but not a Greek one. (Maybe knows someone
already until I remember. Keep this info as "bad" until I revert with
infos. Maybe you remember about Father of Alexander Machedon , the
Philip which bought 50.000 mares from the getaes in Moseia Inferior, I
have to check about.)
I will say in thracian space the word was "cal" and not like the Greek
or Latin form "kel" (this because of Callatis)
Of course you will say I have nothing in the hand to say that the word
"cal" was known before "cabalus".
Remember please about "celer", Greek "keles" and Greek "keler" as well
as about Old Latin "celeres"= equestrian corpus.
In the Eolian language "keler" meant "horseman" .
Now to *ekwos. Did someone ask himself why the name for "she-horse" is
took as name for horse?
In rom. lang. "iapa"= mare but not horse. And "iapa" is suposed to be
the Latin word equa > epa > iapa.
Horse= cal, mare= iapa, foal= mânz.
So far about *ekwos and attested form "cal/kel" meaning horse in
Thracian space, but too the Celtic one "marco"= mârtsoaga.
About "esbenus" now:
-the only one connection which is supposed that in Thracian the word for
horse was "esba-" is the name "esbenus" which is corelated (why?) with
indo-avestan word, since indo-avestan "asva" means horse and it derives
very nice from *ekwos.
This Esbenus ! Why not "izbean" from Russian "izba" then? Why not in
connection with ""the hiten one" since " to hit"= in Rom = "a izbi" .
There is no one, but absolutely no explanation why "esba-" should be the
name for the horse in thracian.
But here is the very point. How I said in a previous mail, in Thracian
space, if something palatalised, then a set of "g" and I dont know which
one (g', gW, g'h, gh)
The set of "k" is clear, this set did not went "s" like in Sanskrit or
Iranian and is attested, with hundert of examples.
Dekebalos, Dekeineu, Dokidava, Kotys, Raskuporis, Kumidava,Kaukoenses
etc.. The only one thing we can think about the palatalisation of "k" in
thracian space is "c^" but not "s".Even for "g" are "Germisara",
Gerulata , etc.
I wonder how Duridanov, Georgiev and Decev did not realised this one ?
Or maybe is there a possibility to get in thracian a "k" from PIE
consonants?
If yes, it will be nice to know from which one. Which PIE languages
changed an consonants or a group of consonants so the result of this
change to be a "k" ?
Regards,
Alex