Re: Again with the PIE homeland thing- RE: *(s)teuros

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "stlatos" <stlatos@...> wrote:

> Why should there be any original connection between *tauros and
> *stew-x-ros? One only means 'bull' and the other 'strong/big/old
> etc.' which could be applied to an ox or other kind of cattle but
> is not so applied in every IE language. It seems like nothing to
> indicate a common origin exists. Germanic is the only sub-branch
> that could be taken to indicate *teuros beside *tauros but that's
> almost certainly just contamination from *stew-x-ros > *steu-raz.

That is not completely accurate: Stier and thjórr do mean 'bull', so,
even if *stew(&)-ro- had other meanings too in PIE, it is entirely
possible that it was borrowed in the restricted meaning 'bull'. That
may even have made Semitic *Tawr- appealing as a Fremdwort with this
specific meaning.

Jens