On 2007-03-08 22:55, Abdullah Konushevci wrote:
> Isn't OInd. ra:ma- 'dark, black' derived from *reH1mós, IE *re:mós,
> with Old English cognate ro:mig 'sooty'?
The OE hapax (actually spelt "romei" rather than "romig", as quoted by
Pokorny) is a mangled form of <hru:mig> (from <hru:m, hry:me> 'soot'.
MHG ra:m 'dirt' would be a better potential cognate if it were more
securely related to anything else in Gmc. Anyway, we've been discussing
Skt. ra:má- in the sense 'pleasing, lovely', which may be an accidental
homophone of <ra:má-> 'dark, black'. If Lubotsky is right in relating
<ra:trí:> 'night' to *h1reh1- 'be quiet', i.e. 'night' = 'resting-time'
two derivatives could be proposed:
(1) ra:má- 'pleasing' < *(h1)rom-ó- 'soothing, bringing calm' (cf. Ved.
rámati, -te);
(2) ra:má- 'dark', ra:mí: 'night', ultimately from *h1roh1-mó- 'still,
restful', cf. *h1réh1-mn. 'rest, stillness' (Av. ra:man-).