Re: Greek ke:tos

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@...> wrote:

>
> Is there a PIE etymology for Greek ke:tos- "big fish, whale, sea

monster"? Comparations were made to Latin squatina "skate, ray, flatten
shark", from *kew&t-.
Ernout-Meillet quote the Latin form /squatus/, suggesting a root
*(s)kWáto-.

> - if it's not IE, what would be?

A possible etymology is PNC *XXwanX\V 'fish' with *XX > *k and *nX\ >
*t, and a futher reduction of the labiovelar *kW > k and Umlaut in the
Greek form. The source language must have been Vasconic (i.e. a relative
of native Basque).

> - What's the original meaning? Since Greek ancestor didn't come from

sea coast regions, this "big fish" probably was a giant catfish (Silurus
glanis) (cf. whale, *hwalis) or sturgeon.
In NEC languages, this root doesn't designate any fish species in
particular but 'fish' in general.

> What is the relation of ke:tos- to Greek sea goddess Ke:to:? Are these

names related or became so after folk-etymology?

IMHO there's none, only a phonetical similarity.

> Could Ke:to:, Thetis and Te:thys be cognates, through different but

akin substrata (< "Pre-Greek" *c^e:t-, *c^aWat- or something like?)

Yes!! This points to PNC *cc_>wenhV (~ *cc_>emhV) 'salt', once again
with *nh > *t.