I've seen in several general books of history of
languages references, usually old, thar cedar and
citrus are words of "Mediterranian" origin, once or
twice associated with cypress --although it seems a
stretch unless the word was somehow deformed in Greek.
Do more modern researchers link cedar with citrus?
Cedar is an aromatic wood --American juniper just
stinks and causes allergies, at least where it causes
"cedar fever" (sic --caused by juniper). But European
juniper berries are aromatic enough for gin.
So maybe that's the link to "smoke".
Some conifer resin are used as incense.
Cypress, kuparison (sp?), is supposedly the same word
as Biblical gopher(wood) --used to make Noah's Ark, I
believe. Some general history texts claim that Cyprus
was named for cypress by Semitic speakers and that
copper was named for Cyprus. I'll let whoever wants
to, to fight it out in a death match. Is there a known
Semitic and AA root for gopher(wood)?
--- Richard Wordingham <
richard@...>
wrote:
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan"
. . .
>
> >> PIE *kWed 'to smoke, to fume' (Satem only, so
> Pokorny *ked) = Arabic
> >> _miqt.ar_ 'censer', _qut.(u)r_ 'agalloch,
> aloeswood'. (The earlier
> >> attested Semitic languages show the 'smoke,
> incense' meaning much
> more
> >> clearly, e.g. Hebreq _qi:t.o:r_ 'smoke')
>
> > There is no *kWed-, 'smoke', in Pokorny that I
> can find; and no
> mention of satem only under *ked-.
>
> I missed Greek _kedros_ 'cedar', _kedris_ 'juniper'.
> How are these
> words supposed to be related to a root meaning
> 'smoke'? Without these
> words, there is no IE evidence to distinguish
> between PIE *ked and PIE
> *kWed. The evidence for labialisation seems to be
> the vocalism of
> Arabic _k.ut.(u)r_ and Akkadian _k.utru_ 'smoke'.
>
. . .
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