Re: Mitanni and Matsya

----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel J. Milton" <dmilt1896@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Mitanni and Matsya


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

> it's quite obvious that Vedic Varuna and Indra
> which are not attested elsewhere than in Hurri and Indic
> are a substrate that Indic speakers received
> when they entered in India.
>
> Arnaud
>
> ===============

> In Hurri,
>
> Varuna is uruwaanasiil [uruwanosil]
> Indra is indara [int?ara]
>
> To be frank, I can't believe a second
> that Hurri borrowed these words from Indic.
>
> It's the other way that sounds possible :
> Hurri > Indo-iranian.
>
> Indo-Iranians came empty-handed
> and got what they discovered on the spot.
>
> Arnaud
********
All this makes no sense to me. How could Varuna be a substrate word
"that Indic speakers received when they entered in India" and be
borrowed from Hurrian? Are you thinking the Hurrians were in India?

Puhvel says "Varuna is palpably derived from the root vr- 'enclose,
confine, restrict' (in RV 7.82.6 Varuna actually pra vrnoti 'confines'
.. It is in origin an epithet of Asura 'Lord',thus 'Lord confining'."
I can't palpate this derivation myself, but if you have objections,
I'd like to read them.
Dan

***

Actually, the _u_ in Varuna would stop me from accepting this explanation.

I prefer *weru-, + -*n-, the 'wide one'.


Patrick

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