Re: Haya (Horse)

From: Suresh Eyunni
Message: 71808
Date: 2014-10-01



Thanks Richard. Got it.


To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
From: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 13:40:23 -0700
Subject: RE: [tied] Re: Haya (Horse)

 
---In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, <eyunnis@...> wrote :

> Unfortunately, I could not
understand French to get into details as how haya and Ji  related. But I know that > Armenia is also called Hayastan. But the information I have is that Haya in hayastan is a non indoeuropean > term. Probably something related to progeny  of Noah or Japhet which is a non indoeuropean theme. So got > confused if Armenians were indoeuropeans!!

Armenian _ji_ < PIE g^he:yos.  Sanskrit _haya_ < PIE g^heyos.  The discrepancy between a long vowel and a short vowel may not be significant, though I would not be surprised if it resulted from the word becoming an o-stem independently in the two branches.  The Sanskrit evidence suggests derivation from a cry to encourage animals to move, and the derivation would be parallel to the English _gee_, _geegee_ 'horse'.  (Actually, I'm not sure that the simplex noun _gee_ occurs outside the _Pirates of Penzance_ - 'You'll say a better Major-General has never sat a gee.')