Re: On Greek thalassa 'sea'

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> --- 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 ÎˆÏ ÎµÏ‡Î¸Î·Î¯Ï‚, 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
>>
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> I'd say it's related to words for 'deep, down, cave, vault, etc.', so:
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> thálassa = sea G; dalágkhan (a) Mac;
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> directly with:
>
> thálamos = inner room, thaláme: = cave/den, ophthalmós = *socket > eye G;
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> and further:
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> dals = valley Go; thólos = vaulted room G; dolU = pit OCS;
>
> etc.
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> 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.
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