fournet.arnaud wrote:
> I suppose that people on this site are more learned that average people,
> so I believe (and I still believe) that these enlightened people
> might answer questions that will likely remained unanswered if I put
> an ads in the neighborhood "buy my used fridge" free-flyer.
However, if you want to get a good answer, you must know how to pose a
good question. I this case, any details would be welcome, given that the
word comes from an enigmatic source and might be distorted. It is like
hiring a private investigator: one of the first things Sherlock Holmes
would say to a client was, "You would do wisely if without more ado you
would kindly tell me plainly what the exact nature of the problem is in
which you demand my assistance", or something to that effect.
Also remember it's a list devoted to IE studies, and while we tolerate
occasional excursions off the central topic, don't expect our resident
linguists to be experts on Altaic.
> As far as Krop-gans and Baqa is concerned
> Baqa is supposed to translate Krop-gans,
> in the narration of a Dutch man dating back 1666.
So the important points are these:
(1) What kind of story is it? (e.g., a traveller's tale?)
(2) In what circumstances did the Dutch narrator encouter the word?
(3) Does he provide any information (ethnic, cultural, geographical,
etc.) suggesting at least roughly what language <Krop-gans> was
translated from? I assume there are other such translations in the text.
Are they from the same language?
Piotr