From: Alvin Ekmekciu
Message: 46887
Date: 2007-01-05
>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Alvin Ekmekciu" <a96_aeu@> wrote:
> >
> > Hello !
> >
> > Is there any etymology for Albanian <tru>, brain ?
> >
> > Alvin
> ************
> Alb. <tru> âbrainâ is left without any further explanation about its
> etymology in âEtymologisches Wörterbuch der Albanesischen Spracheâ
> (1891) by Gustav Meyer, who notes that best form is <truja> and
> <truri>, Gheg <trû>, <trûja>, plural <trutë> âbrainsâ. He has
> mentioned also Kavaliotiâs usage for âmarrowâ and De Radaâs usage for
> âmindâ. (pp. 438.).
> I think that Alb. <trûni/truri> is originally a n-stem noun, like
> <drûni/druri> âtreeâ with collective form <truja>, like <druja> from
> *druwa:.
> Being a taboo word, it has no common form in different IE languages
> (cf. Lat. cerebrum, Greek to mialo, ho enkephalos, Slavic mozak,
> English brain, German Hirn etc.).
> Albanian form <tru> has many compounds: tru-hollë âvery smart;
> literally with thin brainâ, <tru-trashë> âvery stupid; literally with
> fat brainâ, <tru-tharë> âlame-brained; literally with dried brainâ,
> <tru-rrjedhur> âidiot, senile; literally with flowed brainâ,
> <tru-dalë> âbrainless/stupidâ etc. Even more, in accordance with word
> <mendje> âmindâ, <tru-femër> âvery creative; literally with female
> brainâ and <tru-mashkull> âvery ignorant; literally with male brainâ.
> Etymologically speaking, Albanian <tru> âbrainâ is hard to be seen as
> a simple word. I think itâs from t-ru, where t- is a prefix like in:
> t-eh, t-ah, t-rim, t-ban etc. So, -ru is a bound morpheme and I guess
> that it could be from suffixed zero-grade form *r.H1-nu of the root
> *re:(i)- âto reason, countâ or from zero-grade form *ruH- of the root
> *reuH- 'to smash, knock down': Norvegian rugga 'coverlet', cf. cerebrum.
>
> Any help?
>
> Konushevci
>