07-09-03 19:04, Sergejus Tarasovas wrote:
> (The reflexes of) Proto-Slavic *rarogU 'falcon' also seem to mean
> some supernatural being (another Balcanism?). BTW, is anybody aware
> of the word's etymology?
There's an old article on (mainly West) Slavic *rarogU by Machek, where
the word is explained as an Iranism, from the name of the Iranian god
*vr.þra-gna- 'Vr.þra-killer', who was represented as a falcon and whose
tongue-twisting name underwent slightly irregular changes already in
Iranian, becoming <va:r&gan-> et sim., Sogd. w'rGn'k = *va:ragna-ka-
(also Vahagn in Armenian). Trubachev developed this idea further. Slavic
*rarogU and Lith. vanagas 'falcon' would thus be two assimilated
versions of something like *va:ragna-. Interesting stuff, speculative as
it is.
Piotr