--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@...>
wrote:
> Is there any PIE name for the Rainbow?
>
> Joao SL
*********
I don't know, but I doubt it. From "The Rainbow, from Myth to
Mathematics (C. B. Boyer), it seems that worldwide the rainbow has
many fanciful names matching explanatory myths. The
English "rainbow" seems one of the most straightforward names.
What comes to mind for a possible I.E. word is Greek 'iris' .
Does it have cognates in any other language? Watkins has it a
possible derivative of *wi:-ri, an extended form of *wei- "to
turn". On the other hand, Keightley (1857) and more recent
authorities referred to in Boyer, have it derived from 'eiro' "to
say", which would make Iris's office of messenger of Zeus primary,
and the rainbow secondary.
Dan