26-07-03 12:37, Richard Wordingham wrote:
> It could be, but I strongly suggest a connection with Sanskrit kapa:lam
> 'skull, pan', and thus a match with the Greek. There does seem to be a lot
> of irregularity in the IE matches - Latin caput but Germanic *xaubudam (>
> English head).
I don't think <kapa:la-> should be considered a match with <kephale:>.
The latter, besides lacking the 'cup' semantics, derives from
*gHebH-(e)l-ah2, evidently connected with Germanic *gebVl- (Goth. gibila
'pinnacle', OHG gebal 'head') and possibly related to the 'fork, gable'
etymon (Gmc. *gablo:). Of course, *gHebH-&l-ah2 or *gHebH-el-ah2 would
have yielded something like *jabHira: or *jabHara: in Sanskrit.
The relationship between Lat. caput (*kap-ut-) and Gmc. *xaubVda- is
indeed irregular, but contamination of the latter with *xu:b-o:n- 'head
covering' or a related word may explain the aberrant vocalism of the
initial syllable. <kapa:la>, with its concrete "technical" meanings
('cup, jar, dish, bowl' etc.) and its dialectal-looking /l/ is hardly a
good match even for <caput>. There's nothing to suggest 'head' as its
original sense.
Piotr