[tied] Re: IE "River", what are the

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:

> --- "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...> wrote:
>
> > Watkins derives <Dniester> from Scythian *da:nu nazdya 'nearer
> > river, river in front' (*nazdya- 'nearer').
>
> ****GK: This is usually coupled with a similar "all-Scythian"
> etymology for the Dnipro/Dnieper, as "Danuapara" = the 'further'
> river.

Are they really "nearer" and "further", or rather "to the front"
and "to the rear"?

From page 78 of 'In Search of the Indo-Europeans':

"The distribution of Iranian river names in Eastern Europe.
These include the major rivers whose names are built from
the Iranian word danu- 'river', whence the Don, the Dnieper
(from *danu apara 'river to the rear') and Dniester (*danu
nazdya- 'river to the front')."

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:
>
> The problem here is historical. We know of no Scythian groups
> for whom the Dnister would have been 'nearer' and the Dnipro
> 'further' except those of the Dobrudja.

Did none ever dwell in the area between the two rivers?

David