Re: "As"

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george knysh <gknysh@...> wrote:

>
> Don't remember if I asked this before. Couln't find
> anything in my notes. Is there an Iranic meaning to
> the term "As" (et sim.) which is behind the
> designation of modern Ossetians (and Alanic forebears)
> in other languages?

Copied from the Indo-Iranian list (maybe you would want to join it?)
"
Re: "As"

--- In indo_iranian@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>
wrote:

>
> In the group cybalist. George Knysh asked the following:
> "Don't remember if I asked this before. Couln't find
> anything in my notes. Is there an Iranic meaning to
> the term "As" (et sim.) which is behind the designation
> of modern Ossetians (and Alanic forebears)in other
> languages?"
>
> There was no reply yet. Can anybody help with an Iranian
> etymology here?

I can't really help, but I have wondered about the same
question myself for a long time.

'Asy' in Iron, 'Asi' or 'Assi' in Digoron, is the Ossetic
designation for Balkaria, and is supposed to go back to a
time when the region was inhabited by the As. The Ossetes
nowadays, however, don't seem to recognize it as their own
former name.

I've wondered if there isn't some connection to the Iron
'as' and Digoron 'asæ', for which Abaev gives 'velic^ina',
'rost', 'vozrast'. Doesn't the root of Germanic 'teuta-'
have a similar meaning?

David [Russel Watson]
"


Torsten