Re: [tied] Re: Greek naos "temple": IE?

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 07:46:49 +0100, Peter wrote:

>> It's not immediately obvious why the central part of a church
>suggests a ship
>
>Traditionally it is because of the structure of wooden beams. The theory is
>that the only way of holding up the roof across such a great width was to
>use the same technique as that of holding the hull of a ship together.
>Looking up at the roof was therefore the same as looking down into a ship -
>hence the same word was used for both. Whether this is right or not, I do
>not know, but it is clear that "nave" derives from navis "ship".

Compare the use of the Swedish word _skepp_ 'ship' to refer to a bay
of a building (defined by rows of columns). The same word is used for
the nave of a church, calqued I suppose on late Latin.

Kim Bastin