Re: Druhyus

At 7:52:35 PM on Saturday, February 2, 2008, stlatos wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
> <richard@...> wrote:

>> the 'Druid' word - Latin _druidae_, _druides_ < Gaulish
>> _druides_, with Irish also evidencing the second /d/.
>> (Welsh _derwyddon_ 'druids' derives from Celtic
>> *derwijes.) The usually suggested etymologies for 'druid'
>> are from *derwos 'true' (so = 'soothsayer') and from the
>> 'tree' word (PIE *deru or similar), which often has the
>> meaning 'oak'.

> What evidence is there for j over d in *derwijes?

Matasovic has *d: he offers PCelt. *druwid-, whence OIr
<druí> and Gaul. <druides> (nom.pl.). He then says:

The second element of this compound is the root of the
verb *weyd- 'see, know' (Skt. <véda>, etc.). The first
element is presumably PIE *derw-, *dru- 'oak' which
metaphorically also meant 'strong, firm'. *dru-wid- is
therefore the priest with 'strong insight'. The Welsh
form <derwydd> and OBret. <dorguid> gl. pithonicus are
actually parallel formations (< *do-are-wid-).

Brian