--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, patrick cuadrado <dicoceltique@...>
wrote:
> Leo-pard =lion + male panthère
> Gué-pard = cheetah = cat panthère
> From Latin Pardus = Tiger From Grec Pardalis From Iranian roots (?)
> I can't find more IEÂ roots Pard- = feline/panther except Sanskrit
> Prdakuh.
A discussion of the etymology of this term (whose eventual origin,
according to A. Lubotsky, "must be sought in the Near East") can be
found in M. Witzel's paper "Linguistic Evidence for Cultural
Exchange in Prehistoric Western Central Asia" (_Sino-Platonic
Papers_ 129, Dec. 2003):
<< **pard-/pandh- "spotted animal, panther": Ved. pr.da:ku- "snake"
RV, pr.daku:- "panther snake" AV, pr.da:khu- BS'S, W. Panj. parr.a:-
, O.Iran. *pard-, cf. Khowar purdu:m- < *pr-dhu:ma-?, Bur. (Yasin)
phúrdum "adder, snake"...
The overlap between "panther" and "(spotted) snake" is due to the
fact that snakes are frequently named after a number of
characteristics of other animals and plants, in case, the spots of
the panther... Lubotsky... has pointed out that the AV snake
pr.da:ku- is called after the leopard.
The Iranian forms differ considerably: N.P. palang- "leopard, felis
pardus" < O.Iran. *pard-, Kurd. pilink-, Pashto pr.ang-, Parachi
parö:n-, cf. further Lahnda parr.a:-, Gr. párdalis-, párdos-, léo-
pardos- "leopard", all < *pard- "spotted, wild animal?"... , or
following Henning, from an older **parθ-. However, the alternate
Greek word, pánthe:r-, must be taken into consideration as well. The
original C. Asia word seems to have had the dialect variants **pard-
/pand-. >>
Regards,
Francesco