Res: [tied] Contact between Indo-Aryans and Semites in India

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

> How was the contact between Indo-Aryans and Semites in India?

In the Atharvaveda V.13 we find:

1) Taimâta, name of an evil black serpent whose poison is said to be destroyed by the uttering of this Vedic snake-charm; cp. Old Babylonian Tiâmat 'name of the primeval water-dragon of Babylonian mythology'. Taimâta is derived by some scholars from Skt. timi 'big fish' via an unattested form *timâta, but this is speculative.

2) Urugûlâ, of whom Taimâta is said to be the 'daughter': cp. Urugal 'the netherworld' (lit. 'big city'), a Sumerian loan world in Akkadian.

The above are the two most frequently cited 'suspect' Semitic loanwords in Old Indo-Aryan. I wished to ask some linguist about them, so I take the liberty to do it now on this linguistic List.

Regards,
Francesco