Re: [tied] Gody, Slavic

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 45882
Date: 2006-08-29

On 2006-08-29 02:16, Joao S. Lopes wrote:

> Does anybody what is the meaning of this "Gody"? It's some kind of
> Slavonic feast, that Dumezil linked to Gandharva/Kentauros.

Slavic *godi is the plural of *godU 'suitable time, special event'
(something that people look forward to), hence a multitude of secondary
meanings like 'important annual festivities, holiday', 'feast, banquet,
wedding-party (as in your quotation)', '(end of the) year, Yule season'
etc. The exact meaning varies from place to place, depending on the
local traditions.

Note also the derivatives: *godina 'the time (of sth.); hour; year',
*goditi 'reconcile, please, aim (etc.)', *godInU 'worthy, suitable'.
Cognates with a lengthened vowel occur in Baltic (Lith. guo~das
'worship, hospitality', Latv. gu`ods 'banquet, wedding') and Germanic
(*Go:ða- 'good').

Piotr