From: Andy Howey
Message: 28460
Date: 2003-12-14
| 1 | a less common word for: drinkable | |
| 2 | something fit to drink; a beverage | |
And here are the definitions according to http://www.webster.com :
Main Entry: 1po�ta�ble
Pronunciation: 'pO-t&-b&l
Function: adjective
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin potabilis, from Latin potare to drink; akin to Latin bibere to drink, Greek pinein
Date: 15th century
: suitable for drinking
- po�ta�bil�i�ty /"pO-t&-'bi-l&-tE/ noun
- po�ta�ble�ness /'pO-t&-b&l-n&s/ noun
Main Entry: 2potable
Function: noun
Date: 1623
: a liquid that is suitable for drinking; especially : an alcoholic beverage
Where in "drinkable" is there anything related to alchemy? Maybe the Sanskrit literature has many metaphors. So what? So does the Judeo-Christian Bible. That doesn't mean that everything contained in either set of scriptures should be interpreted as a metaphor. Some, in fact most of what's there is meant to be taken literally, at least it is in the Bible, and probably also in the Sanskrit literature. Why try to turn plant squeezings into a molten gold-silver alloy if it's not necessary?
As far as "soma" in Old Tamil, is it possible that you're dealing with a false cognate, or that Tamil assigned a different meaning to the word after adopting it? You were first quoting Sanskrit. Using a similar sounding word from an unrelated language really muddies up the context, to say the very least.
Andy Howey
kalyan97 <kalyan97@...> wrote:
--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Andy Howey <andyandmae_howey@...>
wrote:
> How can molten metal be potable? My Sanskrit resources are rather
limited, so I can't find a translation for "soma", but in the
glossary section of "A Concise Elementary Grammar of the Sanskrit
Language" by Jan Gonda, there is a translation for "rasa" --
it's "juice". Is comparing Modern Tamil, a Dravidian language, with
Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, really practical?
Sure, Andy. Rasa also means juice. It also means alchemy extended
further as chemistry in rasa_yanam.
pot-able as in: Suffixed form *po_tlo-, drinking vessel. hibachi,
from Sanskrit ptram, cup, bowl. Its being a drink is a secondary
meaning, in my view.
In Old Tamil, there is another use of the word soma in the compound:
soma-man.al 'sand containing silver ore'.