My irrepressable brain has gone athinkin' agian, this time concerning
the origin of the name /De:me:te:r/.
The thing that's driving me nuts is that everybody is taking for
granted that it means "Earth Mother". Now, while I agree with
the translation, I'm not convinced of the analysis of the elements.
While we know that /me:te:r/ is the Greek word for "mother",
we also know that /ge:/ is the Greek word for "earth". But we
don't have *ge:-me:te:r -- We have /de:-me:ter/. So what the
hell is *de:?!
Yes, yes, *de: means "earth"... but from what language??