Re: Mohyla-Movila [Was: Re: [tied] Re: Catunari]

28-06-03 19:44, george knysh wrote:

> *****GK: The main meaning of mogila/mohyla today (at
> least in the East Slavic languages AFAIK is simply
> "grave, tomb". It coexists in Ukr. (am not sure about
> Russ. and Belar.) with "hrib" (the same as grob
> elsewhere). The other meanings are still there in Ukr.
> (kurgan/burial mound, hillock --- I haven't found
> "heap" though). I gather that Polish "mogila" is
> primarily a literary word (knyzhna nazva).

It isn't really bookish, though it's definitely stylistically marked,
and used mostly in ceremonial or poetic contexts. The meaning is 'a
mound of earth over somebody's grave' or, more loosely, just 'grave'
(especially one of a soldier or of an important person).

> One interesting thing: we know from extant Slavic texts
> that in the 14th and 15th c. the main meanings of the
> word in Moldavia were "kurgan" and "hill", but it
> seems that only the second sense made it into the
> Romanian language (?)=== I'll see if I can find any
> archaeological evidence that might be helpful here.
> Clearly "kurgans" (of all sizes--I'll check this)
> existed in Eastern Europe from the late IVth
> millennium BC (after all the "Kurgan culture" and all
> that,eh?) But the evidence of many other languages
> would suggest that they were not referred to by the
> "m" word. I've not checked everything (just the online
> Baltic dictionaries) but I'm sure Piotr would have
> mentioned Sanskrit or Old Persian words. And David's
> note about Ossetian (the heir of Alanic) also seems
> significant.********

The *magu- part is of course fine in Iranian terms; it's the *-ula: part
that I'd like to see the explanation of.

Piotr