Re: [tied] "Fish" in Slavic

----- Original Message -----
From: Patrick Ryan
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 12:35 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] "Fish" in Slavic

> Patrick:

> Another, perhaps likelier possibility, is *ru:-, 'rake', relating the the
> scratchiness of the typical scaled
> fishskin. Here, we could look at Latin ru:bidus, 'rough'; and MIr robb,
> 'animal?'.

If Slavic ryba "fish" is really related to German Raupe (now "caterpillar",
but earlier also "burbot"), both words come from *ru:bh-, not *ru:b-. The
meaning of *ru:- does not seem to be "rake" but "to dig" and "to tear"
rather. See Pokorny, and MIrl. ruam "spade" (quoted in Vasmer).

Grzegorz J.





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