Re: Varuna and the Hittite Bogazkoy treaty

Francesco,

Thank you for the response, I didn't know if the Hittite spellings
had provided any further info on the possible linguistic
relationship. My thanks for the clarification.

Regards,
Aydan

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Francesco Brighenti" <frabrig@...>
wrote:

>
>
>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "A." <xthanex@> wrote:
>
> > My apologies for beating a dead horse.... but I have looked back
> > through the archives and am still at a loss as to whether the
> > infamous Ouranos - Varuna connection is viewed as valid.
>
>
> Attempts to link Ouranos to Varun.a etymologically have been
> generally abandoned. "The Greek Ouranos is the Sanskrit Varun.a"
> is no longer as undisputed as it was in Dumézil's time -- compare
> Frisk's Greek and Mayrhofer's Sanskrit etymological dictionaries.
> From a PIE perspective, Greek Ouranos may well be related to the
> roots *weh1-r- 'moisture, water' and *weh1-r-s- 'to moisten, let
> water' (referring to the rain), but Sanskrit Varun.a probably

isn't.

> (As for Varuna, many Vedicists are now inclined to consider a PIE
> root *werh1- 'to speak'. This etymology would make Varuna a god
> of 'true-speech').
>
> This IE etymology, which interprets Ouranos as a theonym originally
> meaning 'rainmaker' (or, metaphorically, 'moistener, drencher,
> fertilizer, impregnator'), and only later 'heaven, sky' (also
> personified), is discussed in Beekes' Greek Etymological Dictionary
> at
>
> http://tinyurl.com/5m4sov
>
> The etymology infers that Proto-Greek *worsanos ~ *(F)orsanos
> (where /F/ = digamma) may derive from a noun *worso- ~ *(F)orso- =
> Sanskrit vars.a- 'rain'. As an agent noun, ouranos may belong to a
> primary verb *(w/F)ers- = Sanskrit vars.ati 'to rain'; it can also
> be derived from the secondary verb oureo:- 'to make water'
> (part. 'to urinate').
>
> See also J. Puhvel, _Comparative Mythology_, Baltimore and London,
> The John Hopkins University Press, 1987, p. 49.
>
> Best wishes,
> Francesco
>