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

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "ualarauans" <ualarauans@...> wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@>
> wrote:
> >
> > I am certain these words refer to 'grey hair' not 'grey skin'.
> >
> > It is reverence for age not hue.
>
> Yes. But are you sure "superior paleness" refers to skin color?
> Maybe it's a kind of color symbolism? Sorry if I missed something.
>
>
> >I think there are opposite examples as well. E.g. German Herr <
> >PGrm. *xairaz "grey-haired" < PIE *k^oiro- "dark", "brown". Nothing
> > of a "race" here.

According to Dansk etymologisk ordbog from *he:riro "nobler", earlier
"older, more dignified" as a translation loan of Romance 'senior'.


Torsten