Re: Meaning of Aryan: now, "white people"?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Francesco Brighenti" <frabrig@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 7:55 AM
Subject: [tied] Re: Meaning of Aryan: now, "white people"?




--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:

> Well, I am nor sure I understand what you are asking

I was simply asking what is the LINGUISTIC MATERIAL that allows such
a bombastic reconstruction as PIE *aryo- 'white person' is. I could
not trace the root giving this proposed meaning in any PIE
dictionary (maybe I should try on the Stormfront website? :-)).

> but let me approach it in this way:
>
> HH (dotted h)
>
> HHar, pale -> *Ha(:)r-, 'pale/white'
>
> Is that any better?

No, it isn't, if you don't provide any linguistic comparanda.

Interestingly, Bomhard has PIE */Hh/er-yo- (*/Hh/ar-yo-) 'a
superior, a person higher in status or rank' (where */Hh/ indicates
Bomhard's PIE sequence of a voiceless pharyngeal fricative and a
voiceless glottal fricative). He compares this posited root to Proto-
Afroasiatic *Har-/*H@... 'to be superior, to be higher in status or
rank, to be above or over', which he claims to be identical to the
Proto-Nostratic root in form and meaning -- see at

http://tinyurl.com/252gt5

Bomhard doesn't give any morphologically parallel root
meaning 'white/pale', nor does Starostin.

Regards,
Francesco

***

Francesco,

whether it is a good thing or not, it is a fact that 'paleness' is
considered a superior trait among many generally darker populations.

I hope I will not be accused of being racistic to notice and report this
fact.

Why do I dare to tread on such quicksandy ground? Because you brought up
Bomhard's *HHar-, which is, of course, identical to my proposed *HHar-,
'pale'.

As for data, I would cite Sumerian ari-2, *pale (Jaritz #112 reads ari-2,
and means 'dead`); IE *ar- (for *a:r-), '*white', theorized under ar(e)-g^-,
'shining, whitish'; and *ar-, 'nut' (pale meat)'.

Is that more helpful?