Re: [tied] Re: The Pontic Indics

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 37239
Date: 2005-04-18

george knysh wrote:

> *****GK: There is the Hypanis which joins the
> Borysthenes; and then the Hypanis which flows into the
> sea of Azov; and yet another Hypanis in India: cf. my
> "Scythia 4" Stryzhak scan. Cf. also Trubachov's
> article in "Voprosi Iazikoznaniia", 1976, n.4, pp.
> 39-63. He investigates the Indic connection.******

The Indian Hypanis/Hyphasis is a garbled Greek version of Old Indian
<vipa:s'-> (= the modern River Beas); the first variant is no doubt
influenced by a reminiscence of the "Scythian" river (the Southern Bug
or whatever). A direct etymological connection between (the original)
Hypanis and the Indian name doesn't seem to be possible, but at least
the Greek rendering of foreign vip- as /(h)yp-/ shows that we should
also consider a compound with *wi- as a possible Iranian source (in
addition to *upa- etymologies).

Piotr