Re: Asoka pillar
From: m. nease
Message: 393
Date: 2001-09-07
Dear Khun Amara,
--- Amara <joychay@...> wrote:
> Thai we use the
> word 'ma' - high tone- to indicate not only the
> animal but something
> with generally four 'legs' on which one sits or sets
> an object. Is
> there any possibility that in Pali this is also the
> case, say the
> 'horse' being the pedestal for something?
So then this might have been something like
'horse-stone' meaning 'pedastal', rather than 'stone
with a horse' or 'great wall'?
I found the word 'ma' for 'horse' in Dravidian in an
article suggesting that Dravidian is the source of
Indo-European:
"...it is to be noted that in DR. the seed-words ma =
horse (4780-Ta); and mari = female of horse, deer,
sheep, etc., (4764-Ta)".
http://www.datanumeric.com/dravidian/page061.html
and 'ma' (don't know the tone) can also mean 'horse'
in Chinese.
So I don't know whether 'horse' can refer to a
(four-legged) pedestal in languages other than Thai,
but 'ma' for 'horse' certainly seems very widespread.
Just thought you might find this interesting.
mike
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger
http://im.yahoo.com