Lead and Purse

From: Gordon Barlow
Message: 36859
Date: 2005-03-27

>What's the current view of the origin of words for lead and purse?
>Purse:
>Is there a relationship between Greek byrsa and marsypon, marsipon ? I
>remember to read a mention to byrsa as from Anatolian kursa. May we guess
>*gWursa- ?
>Joao SL

I read once - somewhere - that the Marketplace of Carthage was called
"byrsa" - but that of course may have been a Greek transliteration or
perhaps simply a translation. Is it possible that the word was taken into
Greek from there? Cognates "market", "merchant" and the god Mercury, I have
long supposed. Would one of the Slavic-language speakers be kind enough to
tell me: do Slavic cognates carry the m- or the b/p- beginning? Thank you.

Gordon