Re: On Greek thalassa 'sea'

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

>
> Dear List,
>
> A friend of mine (Prof. Victor Mair) has asked a large private mailing lis about the etymology of Gk. thalassa 'sea'. I attach below my reply to him with the hope someone here will be able to provide some fresh insights.
>


> Victor Mair wrote:
>
> > I'm also going to be commenting on the origin of Greek
> > thalassa ("sea"). Do you have any ideas about that (some
> > lost Mediterranean word)? If thal(a)- is the root, what
> > sort of ending would -(a)ssa be?
>


> Dear Victor,
>
> The root traditionally posited as the base for Greek thalassa (if it is IE, which is not very likely) is *dhal- 'to spring, sprout', not **thal(a)-.
>
> M. Nyman (“A Pre-marine Vestige of θάλασσα,” Arctos 14 [1980]: 51-78) derives θάλασσα, with convoluted and devious arguments involving the “Erechtheid Sea” (θάλασσα Έρεχθηίς, a sacred Mycenaean spring-well located on the Athenian Acropolis), from the IE root *dhal- which, according to him, would be semantically associated with the feature “moisture” or “liquid”. From this IE root would derive both Greek θάλ-λω ‘to SPRING, gush forth’ > ‘to bloom, grow’ and θάλ-ασσα ‘SPRING’ > ‘sea’.
>
> The attested forms of Greek thalassa ‘sea’ are:
>
> Ionic θάλασσα (thalassa)
>
> Attic θάλαττα (thalatta)
>
> Doric σάλασσα (dalassa)
>
> Hesychius (5th century CE) includes the following gloss, which has been classified as Macedonian (but which could even be a fake one!):
>
> δαλάγχαν = θάλασσαν (dalankhan, with prenasalization), that is, dalankha = thalassa
>

I'd say it's related to words for 'deep, down, cave, vault, etc.', so:

thálassa = sea G; dalágkhan (a) Mac;

directly with:

thálamos = inner room, thaláme: = cave/den, ophthalmós = *socket > eye G;

and further:

dals = valley Go; thólos = vaulted room G; dolU = pit OCS;

etc.


Notice how the accent in thálassa G; dalágkhan (a) Mac; varies directly with thálamos = inner room, thaláme: G; which, if Mac is like other G dia., means the fem. for 'sea' ended in -ix+ ( > ya ) or -ax+ ( > a: \ e: ), and the long V caused the accent to move in both such forms (dalágkhan & thaláme: ). Ending in -ya not -a: is also why the alt. pal. vs plain is in G vs Mac.


In my theories, an earlier alt. in PG * dHeL-x-m-XYo+ \ dHeL-x-m-qYHo+ created, with dif. endings added, both thálassa & thálamos , etc.