Piotr:
>Cf. also lu:men, lu:na < *leuks-mn., *louks-(m)n-ah2 (quite well
>concealed), and pe:nis < *pes-n- (the kind of root people prefer not to
>expose anyway).
I think that the penis root is a big root to cover (hehe), but I will
let somebody else expose it in another post. But seriously now.
Alright so *dH&hn�m > *fasnom > fa:num makes sense, but is it the
only possibility? (Psychic prediction: Miguel will respond to that question
with a curt "no" without elaborating.)
The Umbrian word shows "s", lengthening AND an underlying full vowel
*e. It can be confidentally derived from *dH�hs-no-m. The Latin form
doesn't show any evidence of "s" whatsoever. We only assume that it
is there to obtain our needed "s" in order to link it to an IE root and
satisfy etymologists.
So if ...
1) there is no older form inscribed with "s" in Latin,
2) there are no other words with /fa:n-/ (*fa:nus perhaps?)
3) Umb. /f��snam/ shows *dH�hsnom, not *dH&hsn�m
4) and there are Tyrrhenian connections showing many
words built on a root /fan-/ (such as Etruscan /fan-u/),
... then do we really have the final answer on this question?
Afterall, don't forget the power of folk etymology. There may
very well be two language groups with seperate roots that
came together in the making of this Latin word /fa:num/.
Take a look at English "sparrow-grass" (< asparagus) and
"cray-fish" (< French �crevisse) and there are certainly others
that you all may know of yourselves.
So even if /fa:num/ _is_ from *dHehs-, does it negate the
possibility that it was also an Etruscan loan built on /fan-/,
in turn derived from Tyrrhenian *af�n- from which words like
Minoan *ipinam might derive if this does mean "holy" as I
suggest?
= gLeN
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