> Dan Milton wrote:
> The name was usually explained by the ancients as meaning 'the
> city of Janus' ( Serv. Aen. viii.357; Varro ap. August. civ. Dei
> vii.4; Solin. ii.5; Macrob. i.7.19; Ov. Fast. i.245); sometimes,
> apparently, as the 'gate' (Fest. 104).
Ia:nus cannot be dettached in my opinion from the Latin word
ia:nua 'gate, passage, entry, door, path', so the initial meaning of
Ianus: would define him as "the Door Keeper, the Gate keeper" (that
is quite in accordance with his attributes as they are present in
the Roman Mythologie.
( Here are some Latin Examples regarding Lat. 'ia:nua' 'door, gate,
passage, entry point, way'
"eam urbem sibi Asiae ianuam fore putavit" (CIC.)
'He thought that this town will be for him the gate/the passage
to enter in Asia'
"illa actio mihi ianuam famae patefecit" (PLIN.)
'that process open for me the way to celebrity'
)
Starting from 'ia:nua' I think also that we can find the initial
meaning of Lat. Ia:nua:rius 'January' too =>
'the gate/the passage/the entry point in the new year' =>so 'the
beginning of the new year' => 'the first month of the year'
On the other hand, the probable PIE derivations of :
Lat. Ia:nus & Lat. ia:nua from the PIE *ieh2- a derivation of the
PIE *ei 'to go' could also indicates Ia:nus as a "An Agent that
controles/allows the movements/the passages"
Best Regards,
Marius