On 2006-08-21 01:52, m6 wrote:
> Can anyone tell me, what relation is the name 'Helios' to the
> noun 'helix', please?
There's no connection. Attic <hé:lios> is just one of several Ancient
Greek versions of the word for 'sun', the others being (among other
things) Homeric <e:élios>, Doric/Aeolic/Arcadian <aélios>, Cretan
<abélios> (= /awélios/), etc. Together, they point to pre-Gk.
*sa:welijos, a derivative of the PIE 'sun' word, *sah2wl., gen.sg.
s(h2)wéns (cf. Lat. so:l, Goth. saúil and sunno:, Skt. súvar-, etc.).
The noun <héliks> is related to the verb <eiléo:> 'turn, roll'; the
underlying PIE root is *wel- 'turn'.
Piotr