Re: Hermes again

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "alexandru_mg3" <alexandru_mg3@...> wrote:

>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "dgkilday57" <dgkilday57@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "A." <xthanex@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Quick question:
> > > I've looked through the archives and a few other sites, and been unable to find any clear etymology for the name Hermes (and the hermae pillars).
> > > Am I simply missing it, or has one not been successfully established?
> >
> > Beekes considers 'Hermes' to be unanalyzable Pre-Greek,
>
> My feeling is that there are too many Pre-Greek words at Beekes.
> So many, that the Ancient Greek arrived to be a Koine Language...in his vision...

I think B. tends to favor Pre-Greek for difficult words, which with some effort could be given a plausible IE etymology, such as <anthro:pos>. I suspect the suffix -eus is the conflation of a genuine Pre-Greek *-ew- and an Indo-European *-e:w-, and words in -eus should not be automatically ascribed to Pre-Greek.

> > A presumed noun *hermé:n could thus have been derived from an
> > abstract *hérma:, Att.-Ion. *hérme: 'articulate speech, connected
> > discourse', formed like <phé:me:> 'speech, report' (Doric
> > <phá:ma:>, Latin <fa:ma>) and leading in turn to <herme:neús>. The
> > IE root would be *ser- 'to line up, join together, connect' whence
> > also, by a different suffix, Lat. <sermo:> 'connected speech,
> > discourse' (Pokorny's *ser-(4), IEW p. 911).
> >
> I prefer the root *ser- 'to flow' -> 'to rush, to follow'

Pokorny's *ser-(1), actually *serH3-. I can't disprove it, but I think derivation from P.'s *ser-(4) is semantically easier.

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes
> "Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers
> [...]
> He protects and takes care of all the travelers, miscreants, harlots, old crones and thieves that pray to him or cross his path
> "
>
> For the root *ser- 'to flow' -> 'to rush, to follow'
> the suffix X-mo means 'generated-by-X/resulting-from-X' ==>>
>
>
> *sor-mo/eh2 -->
> Grk. 'onset, assault, onrush, outset, effort'
> Skt. 'flowing, streaming'
> Alb./Rum-Substratum 'trace'
>
>
> <<ser-m- + <a-suffix-to-indicate-the-agent Greek or Not-Greek one> >>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A. That one that follows the traces ==> that one that follows the paths ==> The Traveller (the Traveller's God -> the God of Travellers)
>
> B. That one that follows the indicated paths
> => the Messenger (the Messenger of Gods)
>
> C. That one that communicates(&translates&explains) the delivered messages => the Interpreter
> ------------------------------------------------------------------

With my hypothesis, the development is in the reverse order, more or less.

DGK