Re: Stacking up on standard works

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

>
> From the Brill series, I've got original PDFs of Derksen's Slavic
> dictionary (which I uploaded here) and Kloekhorst's Hittite dictionary
> (too big to be uploaded). I've also got scanned copies of Matasovic's
> Proto-Celtic and De Vaan's Latin+Italic, the latter being IMHO a
> comparatively mediocre work.
>

I'm going to summarize the weakness I've found in De Vaan's work. As indicated by its title, this is a Latin dictionary where other Italic languages and Proto-Italic itself play a minor role. Secondly, in the introduction he sticks to the *outdated* Italo-Celtic hypothesis, in despite of being rejected by his colleague Matasovic.

Although he says his is a dictionary of "inherited lexicon" (thus excluding Greek loanwords), he includes some likely Etruscan borrowings, often with a shameless laziness. For example, he thinks Latin ferrum 'iron' < PItalic *ferso-m might be a loanword from some Phoenician dialect, because the word is attested in Semitic (e.g. Akkadian persillum). In fact, this is a Wanderwort of ultimate Luwian origin from the root *bherg´- 'to shine', introduced to Italy by the Etruscans (Villanova culture).

Also some of De Vaan's etymologies, e.g. Latin vitrum 'glass; woad' from IE *wed-ro- 'water-like' are rather inventive, to say the least.