Re: [tied] Re: Crows and Garlands

19-08-03 20:26, Richard Wordingham wrote:

> Are we just looking at a coincidence here? I too was skeptical
> until I looked at these entries.
>
> We have similar sets in Latin:
>
> _corn-i:x_, _-i:kis_ f. 'crow' and _cornu:_ horn
>
> _corv-us_, _-i:_ (m.) 'raven', '(military) grapnel';
> _curv-us_ 'bent, curved, crooked' (and the verb _curvare_ 'curve,
> bend, arch');
> _cerv-us_, -i: (m.) 'stag, deer';
> _cerv-i:x_, _-i:cis_ (f.) 'neck'.
>
> On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any connection between
> the multi-stemmed Greek _keras_ (n.) 'horn' and corvids.

The 'horn, antler, head' etymon is definitely different from the corvid
set, and involves *k^, not *k; more precisely, it's *k^r.-n- or
*k^er-h2-, with ablaut variants and further extensions (a rather large
family of words). I wouldn't exclude a secondary folk-etymological
rapprochement between the two etyma in individual centum branches.

Piotr