From: Marco Moretti
Message: 29749
Date: 2004-01-18
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Marco Moretti"But I always affirmed that Gr. (w)anaks isn't IE. It IS a pre-Greek
> <marcomoretti69@...> wrote:
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
> > <piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
> > > 15-01-04 18:40, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> > >
> > > > s.v. <wânam>. (Warning: This is quite a large file.) There
> > > > are also entries for <wânami> str. fem. 'Glanz' ('shine')
> > > > and an adverb <wânamo> 'glänzend' ('shiningly').
> > >
> > > But this word comes from *we:numa-, related to Middle English
> ween
> > > 'beautiful' < *we:njo- and perhaps to the 'hope, imagine' word-
> > family
> > > (Goth. we:njan, OE we:nan, OS wânjan, ON væ:na, ...). It
> can
> hardly
> > be
> > > related to the name of the Vanir (unless both are somehow
> connected
> > with
> > > *wenh1-, but that, while supported by some dictionaries,
> requires a
> > lot
> > > of semantic prestidigitation).
> > >
> > > Piotr
> >
> > I was simply wrong. The source on which the quote was based was
> > apparently very rough, and without any indication of vowel length.
> > Being /wa:num/ with a long vowel, the only possible ancestor
> > is /*we:num-/, that is in any case pre-IE. Interesting is the
> > suffix /-um-/.
> > So I can now only affirm that the nearest possible cognate of
> Vanir
> > is Greek /(w)anakt/. The central meaning is not "bright".
> >
> > Marco.
> ***********
> As far a I know, the only I.-E. etymology that has been
> suggested for Gk. (w)anax is the same *wnh1- that Piotr mentioned.
> If so, the Vanir have lots of cognates. However, more likely
> (w)anax isn't I.E. at all, but a pre-Greek title retained by the
> Myceneans, in which case a connection to the Vanir seems extremely
> unlikely.
> Dan