Re: [tied] West bird

----- Original Message -----

From: Piotr Gasiorowski

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 4:03 AM

Subject: Re: [tied] West bird

On 2006-01-27 10:24, tgpedersen wrote:

> Where did 'motionless' come from? Perhaps from an original
> sense 'roost'?

Just trying to convey the connotations of the Sanskrit word, which is
used in contexts like 'sitting quietly near the fire altar during a
ceremony'. Literally, it means just 'sitting _down_' (<ni->). I've got
nothing against the idea that a nesting bird could be described as
*ni-sed- 'down-sitter' by the IEs. As regards the "original" meaning of
*sed-, it isn't something I would know much about, but obviously 'to
sit' is a very basic concept.

***

Patrick:

 

For whatever it may be worth, after literally years of trying to analyze the fundamental meaning of *sed-, the best I have been able to come up with is 'cushion', 'that upon which one sits'.

 

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