"semantic" etymology and my dream

Dear Eisel,

thanks for your interesting observation (RSigiri)!

> The following "false etymology" was new to me, and rather than
> appearing in a commentary (etc.), comes directly from the mouth of the
> Buddha:

Why not call it "semantic etymology" (as opposed to "historical etymology") like others (see beneath)? I like this expression. I am again and again amazed by the richness of semantic etymologies that prevail in eastern Pali scholarship, while our background provides us with knowledge of historical and comparative linguistics that is very difficult to access for Pali students and scholars e.g. here in Thailand. I hope that through scholarships for Thai students and hopefully some future translations of major works in the mentioned fields into Thai this can change a little bit. (Most of the Pali students, i.e. monks, come from a poor background and are not well educated in English language, as we all know. English, or even German books, like Wackernagel, are of no use to them.) At the same time the "western" Pali and Sanskrit education can be enrichened by encluding more elements (e.g. recitation) and knowledge (i.e. indigenous grammar traditions) of "eastern"  Pali and Sanskrit scholarship.

I have a dream... (But please, no need of discussion of my dreams here or via email anyhow! I know there are a lot of "but's"... Just wanted to share my dream with you.)

That's it for today,

best regards
Susi


P.S.
Etymology and Magic: Yāska's Nirukta, Plato's Cratylus, and the Riddle of Semantic Etymologies, by Johannes Bronkhorst © 2001.
Abstract
Semantic etymologies are to be distinguished from historical etymologies. A historical etymology presents the origin or early history of a word. Semantic etymologies do something completely different. They connect one word with one or more others which are believed to elucidate its meaning. Semantic etymologies are practically universal in pre-modern cultures, and there are treatises in some cultures - such as Yāska's Nirukta in ancient India, Plato's Cratylus in ancient Greece - that specifically deal with them. This article addresses the question how modern scholarship should try to understand semantic etymologizing. It is argued that, being a universal phenomenon, semantic etymologizing is in need of a universal explanation. Drawing inspiration from certain pre-modern philosophies, it is proposed to study this phenomenon in the light of another category of phenomena that is often called "magical"
--
Susi Goetz
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Chayathip Mansion
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