--- In Nostratica@yahoogroups.com, "anthonyappleyard
<Anthony.Appleyard@...>" <Anthony.Appleyard@...> wrote:

> This message in the India-related list akandabaratam
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akandabaratam/message/3650
> claims to have found a longish list of words which are the same in
> Basque and Tamil. Its author says that his native language is Tamil.

Dear Anthony,
My reply to that is below. I assume you're a member, so could you
alert that group to the discussion here, or at least to my reply if
only I respond.

> From: "ssathia <ssathia@...>" <ssathia@...>

(at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akandabaratam/message/365 )

> Date: Tue Jan 14, 2003 3:19 am
> Subject: Basque and Tamil
>
>
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> I came across the statement that Basque language is unrelated to
> any other language in the world.
>
> Out of curiosity I searched for Basque words and sentences written

in

> Roman alphabet with meaning in English. To my surprise, I found

that

> the Basque sentence structure is very similar to Tamil, my mother
> tongue. There were also many words that seem common to Basque and
> Tamil.

Unfortunately, it is very easy to find coincidental matches. See
http://www.zompist.com/proto.html .

> I submit a sample of words below for your reading pleasure. I hope
> that the when sending the email, the table arrangement does not get
> distorted.
>
> All the Tamil words given by me below are in their current form.

You

> must remember that if there was a connection, it must have been a
> long time ago and since then Tamil and Basque would have undergone
> changes of their own quite independently. In case of errors, I will
> appreciate your corrections.

I've made some interlinear comments. Only the remotest of links can
be discerned between Indo-European and Basque (much, much weaker than
the Nostratic hypothesis), so most of the Sanskrit-Basque links can
be discounted. 'Pokorny' refers to Pokorny's Indo-European
etymological dictionary, which is now on-line at
http://iiasnt.leidenuniv.nl/ied/index2.html with a user-friendly (but
in German) interface at http://flaez.ch/pokorny.html .

> Sincerely,
> Sathia
>
>
> Tamil.....English...............Basque......English
>
> idu.......lay...................errun.......to lay eggs
>
> onritu....similar...............iruditu.....to resemble
>
> unarntu...aware.................ulertu......to understand
>
> peru......give birth............peruto......give birth
>
> attai.....aunt..................arre........sister
> (father's sister)

The Tamil word seems to be a 'nursery word', alas. Not sure about
the Basque form.

>
> udal......body...................odol........blood
>
> upayam....offering...............opa.........offering
>
> iraici....meat...................aragi.......meat
>
> sori......to pour................isuri.......to pour
>
> vaasam....fragrance..............usna........smell
>
> sindu.....bad smell..............sund-da.....stink
>
> ucci......summit.................kukula......summit, peak
>
> mulai.....breast.................bular/burar..breast
> (women's breast)
>
> siram.....head...................garaun.......skull/brain

The Tamil word seems to be from Sanskrit s'iram 'head', Pokorny root
926 *k^er 'head, horn'.

> muulai....brain .................muin.........brain
>
> karai.....limit..................garai........high, prominent
>
> kabalam...head...................belar........forehead

Pokorny Root 843 *kap-ut. PIE *kape:lo- Sanskrit kapa:la(m) 'skull,
bowl'

> vaai......mouth..................abo..........mouth
>
> vevu......to spy.................behatu.......to observe
>
> kaan......to look................ikan.........to look
>
> kaatci....sight..................ikus.........to see
>
> vili......eye....................igi..........eye

Far too weak an a priori correspondence.

> mugam.....face....................musu........face

Sanskrit mukham 'mouth, face, snout'. PIE? Related to 'muuku'?

>
> naasi.....nose....................musu........face

Sanskrit nasi, PIE *nas-
n- v. m- is a very long shot.

>
> tuti......snout...................mutur.......snout

m- v. t- is very unusual.

> muuku.....nose/beak...............moko........beak

Is 'muuku' related to 'mugam'? There's a very similar Austro-Asiatic
form, *muq, e.g. Mundari muhu 'nose' and many other forms listed at
http://home.att.net/~lvhayes/Langling/Glossary/Glospag2/glosf055.htm .
(See http://home.att.net/~lvhayes/Langling/Glossary/glosspg1.htm
for discussion and links.)

> alasu.....to rinse................latsatu.....to wash
>
> tahaval...story(news).............ele.........story

What's the relevant Tamil morpheme?

> kalutu....throat..................golo........goitre
>
> karai.....to cry out..............garrasi.....shrill cry
>
> kai.......hand....................uka.........hand
>
> karam.....hand....................kargatu.....to load

Looks like Sanskrit kara 'hand', but where does the Sanskrit word
come from.

> kallar....thief...................kaldar......thief/scoundrel
>
> adi.......foot....................adar........foot of chair
>
> angam.....body part...............anka........foot
>
> kaal......leg.....................garra.......leg
>
> ull.......inside..................ola.........cabin, hut
> olai......palm leaf
> ( A common roofing material in huts)
>
> alkul.....vagina..................alu..........vulva
>
> eccam.....dung....................errai........dung
>
> toppul....navel...................zilbor.......navel
>
> paal......milk....................galatz.......milk
>
> puttam....buttock.................puta.........womb

A bit far fetched.

> chik......tight...................txiki........small
>
> kuttai....short...................korro........short
>
> kilavan...old man.................agure........old man
>
> paitiyam..mad.....................aldia........mental disorder

Not much correspondence here.

> varuntu...to grieve...............auri.........lamentation
>
> madi......die.....................amata........to kill

Is 'madi' Dravidian or a loan from Sanskrit? Persian ma:t 'dead'
springs to mind here.

> ilagu.....soften..................malgu........soft, weak
>
> aadi......ancient.................adin.........age
>
> pasi......hunger..................gose.........hunger

Not much of a match! Any other p- v. g- matches?

> mudangku..cripple,lame............mainku.......crippled, lame
>
> aluttu....tired...................alusu........feeble, weak
>
> irul......night...................ilun.........darkness
>
> valuku....slippery................laban........slippery, sliding
>
> amma......mother, female..........ama..........mother

'Nursery word'.

> alagi.....pretty woman............alaba........daughter, native of..
>
> aal,aan....male...................ar...........male
>
> iru........stay/exist.............ruditu.......to appear
>
> aiya.......father.................aita.........father

'Nursery words'.

> appa.......father.................ata..........father (child's)

'Nursery words'.

> anna.......elder brother..........anai.........brother

'Nursery words'.

> akka.......elder sister...........arreba.......sister

The Tamil word is a 'nursery word'.

> ilainyi....young womani...........loba.........niece
>
> maaran.....brave man..............mardul.......robust/strong
>
> maatraan...enemy..................amarru.......cunning, shrewd
>
> mudivu.....end....................bukatu.......to end

These words don't have much in common.

> karai......limit/border...........garai........high
>
> kuruubi....deformed...............gupi.........deformed spine
>
> murruhai...surround...............murru........wall

The Basque looks like a loan from Latin murus 'wall'.

> mottu......flowerbud..............mugil........flowerbud
>
> aaru.......stream.................ibar..........river valley
>
> alai.......wave...................olatu.........wave
>
> uutru......spring.................iturri........source of water
>
> pani.......snow...................panin.........water

Are there any parallels for this semantic shift?

Richard.