From: mkapovic@...
Message: 40137
Date: 2005-09-19
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "grzegorj2000" <grzegorj2000@...>_malina_ is usually interpreted as from IE *mel(H)- "black" (via vrddhi
> wrote:
>
>> And, with another metathesis: Latin ma:lum, Greek me:lon < *maHlo-,
>> Hittite mahla- "grape-vine" (and maybe Slavic malina "raspberry"
>> also belongs here).
>
> Those could easily be from a native IE word *méxlom, from *mex-
> 'provide, feed, nurture'. In fact, the reflexes in the attested
> languages are very clear: Slavic /a/ is from /a:/ or /o:/, and
> Hittite preserves /h/. Is the -ina in Slavic _malina_ a diminutive
> ending? If so, then the meaning "raspberry" can be understood to
> come from "little apple".