Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

frequently stand in the same construction. Furthermore the names of persons as well as of cities very frequently occur as direct or as indirect object, so that they would often show forms ending in a. Now the Hittite cuneiform was constantly under the influence of Babylonian models, and these forms in a furnished a welcome point of similarity with Babylonian proper nouns. Small wonder, then, that Hittite proper nouns of the a-declension constantly appear in their 'stem-form' in Accadian texts and introductory paragraphs, and also after the Accadian prepositions INA, ŠA, etc., and after KÚR 'country'.18

In the case of the i-stems, the loss of the n from the accusative ending left a final i, which harmonized both with the dative-locative in its anteconsonantal form and with another common termination of Babylonian proper nouns. Consequently we find the 'stem-form' Hatti under the same circumstances as the 'stem-form' Hattuša.

The consonant-stem neuters also fell in with a frequent type of Babylonian proper nouns, and the u-stem accusatives with loss of n corresponded with another. These types are much less common in our Hittite documents, but probably just because proper nouns of these declensions were less numerous.

18 See Götze, Hatt. 77 ff.

ETYMOLOGICAL MISCELLANIES

FRANCIS R. PREVEDEN

DE PAUL UNIVERSITY

[Discussion of words cognate with: 1. Skt. gandha-; 2. Lith. našlýs; 3. OIr. dorn; 4. NHG Iltis; 5. Ch. Sl. mlěko.]

1. Sanskrit gandha- 'odor', as in the compounds: sugandha- 'fragrance', durgandha-, pūtigandha- 'stench', etc. Its cognates are probably Av. gainti-, NP gand 'stench', however with a different suffix.

C. C. Uhlenbeck, Etym. Wtb. d. Altind. Sprache 77, finds its origin obscure, while Bartholomae, Altiran. Wtb. 493, does not offer any etymology.

To me the derivation of this word seems clear. Sk. gandha- came about through the root-extension of the verb han- 'beat, strike, kill', the increment -dh- causing the deaspiration of the IE labiovelar (gh). The semantic evolution of the word is in line with the group of terms which derive the meaning of 'smell, stink' from the words for 'strike, beat, smite, shock'.

This change is seen in the following group. ON hnissa 'steam or smell from cooking' is related to hnita 'strike, smite, thrust'. OE stincan 'smell sweet, stink', OHG stinkan 'emit a smell, be fragrant', etc. are cognate with Goth. stiggan 'thrust, push'. Russ. razitь ‘1) beat, strike, hit; 2) smell bad, stink' (cf. porazitь 'smash, defeat, surprise'), as in razitь vodkoj 'smell of brandy', razitь gnilыju 'stink rot', etc. SCr. údarati 'beat, strike; stink', as in od njega udara rakija 'he reeks with brandy', literally: 'brandy strikes from him'. However, the compound zaudarati (vínom, rakijom, etc.) means only 'smell badly, stink'.

So Skt. gandha- 'smell, odor' goes back to an IE *ghon-dh-o- 'stroke, beat', with the restriction of meaning to the olfactory sensations in Indo-Iranian. Probably the same root-extension appears in Lat. defendo, offendo (from *ghen-dh-ō or *gwhen-d-ō) 'defend; strike, attack, etc.', and in the Germanic group, represented by OHG gund-, gunt'fighting, battle', etc., where it alternates, however, with the increment -t-, as seen in ChSl., žętva 'harvest', Av. gainti- 'stench', etc. (Walde2 224f., with refs.; O. Schade 357f., with refs.; etc.)

2. Lith. našlys 'widower', našle 'widow', etc.

Through secondary derivation this word embraces also the notions: orphan (našlaitis, -e'), widowhood (našlýste), etc., with the idea, common to them all, of 'survival after someone's death'.

According to Leskien's Bildung d. Nom. i. Lit. 462, the formations našlỹs, našlē belong to the group of action- or agent-nouns, derived from a primary element (verb or noun) by the attachment of the formative suffix -lys, -le'.

Semantically this group should be separated from nešti 'carry, bear', našta 'burden, load', našus 'fertile, productive', etc., as the meanings are obviously irreconcilable.

On the other hand našlys, etc., fit well, both by form and meaning, in the IE group *nek-, *nok-, etc. 'die, death, dead, etc.', as in Sk. naçati 'perish, pass away', Av. nasu- 'corpse, carrion', Gk. vékus, vekpós 'dead, corpse', Lat. nex 'murder', ON naglfar "Totenschiff', etc. (WaldePokorny 2. 326).

The semantic development of our forms may have taken different courses. If taken as a (passive) action-noun, našlys may mean 'one visited, deprived by the death'. (Cf. Lett. naslis 'cane, reed' probably through 'the thing carried by the water', here, of course, the root nes'carry' being the productive base. Leskien, Ablaut 364; MühlenbachEndzelin 2. 694).

Ascribing to the root naš substantive force 'death, the dead', the meanings 'widow, widower' would naturally follow through an intermediate 'death-sider' or 'death-survivor'.

If, on the other hand, the formative -l-, in conjunction with the verbroot, contributed the noun *naš-l-i-s 'the dead one, corpse' (cf. Gk. VEK-p-ós, ON nag-l- [Noreen, Lautl. 178] 'the dead one, corpse'), then the guna-form naš-l-ai- would give, with the diminutive -tis, the word for 'orphan' through a 'little one, pertaining to the dead; the child of the dead'. In this light našlẽ, -līs 'widow, widower' can be taken as substantivized forms of an adjective, with the force 'pertaining to a dead man (*naš-l-i-s)'.

Although several ways seem open to the semantic derivation of našlys, etc., our group goes back, beyond reasonable doubt, to IE *nek-, *nok-, etc. 'die, death, dead, etc'. For similar formation cf. SCr. posmrče 'child born after its father's death', literally 'the afterdeath-little-one'.

3. Breton dourn, dorn 'hand': OIr. dorn, dorn-ach 'fist, hand', NIr. dearna 'palm', Welsh durn, Corn., Gael., NIr. dorn 'fist': Alban. dore 'hand'.

G. Meyer, originally in favor of this connection, gives it up in his Etym. Wtb. d. Alban. Spr. 72, combining the Albanian word with Gk. xeip, Armen. Jer 'hand', etc., while Macb. 140, Henry 106, Stokes 148, 154, derive the above Celtic group from IE *der- 'split, tear'.

In my opinion, the whole Celtic group, and Alban. dorɛ, go back to IE *dher-, *dhor- 'hold, carry, support', as seen in Sk. dhārayati 'hold, carry, support', dharma- 'holder, support, law', Gk. Oupa 'chest', Opóvos, Opavos 'seat, bench', etc.

There is no phonetic difficulty in this connection, as the Celtic words may go back to IE *dhor-n, and the Albanian form to IE *dhērā (instead of to IE *ghērā, as assumed by G. Meyer), both within the gradation system of the IE root *dher. Semantically, they all denote an essential function of the hand as 'holder, carrier, support'. Precisely this feature seems to be reflected in the semantic variations of the Celtic forms: 1) fist, 2) palm, 3) hand.

4. a) NHG Iltis 'polecat'; b) Lat. ŏlo, ŏlere 'smell'; c) ON almr 'elm-tree', etc.

The NHG Iltis 'polecat' is conspicuous for its large number of byforms through various periods and in most dialects. Grimm's Dictionary (IV2, 2061) gives 33 forms, without, probably, completing the list. Those of interest to us are: OHG illi(n)tiso; elledis; MHG eltes; iltis; elnte; ellentes; ellintisel; Bavar. elledeis; Upper Saxon. iltnisz; Austr. Siles. iltnis; eltnis (the last two dialects show obvious metathesis of n), and Low German (Middle and New) ilk; ülk; elk; illink; ullink, etc.

The etymology of this word is still being sought, although Grimm's Dict. recognizes in it a compound, consisting of il and tis, but fails to explain either. F. Kluge10 explains the OHG form as *illit-wiso, relating the second part to NHG Wiesel 'weasel'. P. Lessiak (accord. to O. Schrader2 2. 656) takes tis for a separate word and connects it with ON dis 'a goddess or priestess, a female guardian angel', giving the compound a mythological explanation.

The presence of the nasal in many a historical and modern dialect form of the word, speaks against the separation into il and tis, and in favor of the one proposed by Kluge. Furthermore, the nasal seems to hold the key to the compound, as the combination -nt- is highly sug

gestive of a participial suffix. Thus we can reconstruct our word into OHG *illenti-wiso, *ellenti-wiso, or, in accordance with MHG ellintisel, into OHG *ellenti-wisula, etc. The abbreviation, contributing the forms OHG illi(n)tīso or *ellentiso, etc., may have come either as a result of haplology, or through the combinatory loss of w (cf. OHG burgari: OE burg-ware 'town-folk', etc.), followed by the contraction of i. Further reductions resulted from the loss of the unstressed syllables in the compound. Thus both vowels in the modern form Iltis represent the stressed syllable of the two separate elements of the compound.

F. Kluge's explanation of the second part of the compound by *wiso or *wisula 'weasel', is convincing, as the polecat actually is a species of weasel, which seems to derive its name from a word denoting or suggesting bad smell, stench. Such is precisely the derivation of the Portuguese toirao, tourao 'weasel' from L. Latin *putorius 'stinking' (ML 6884). Still larger is the group of similar formations in various languages for the notion polecat. So Fr. putois, chat putois, NProv. püdis 'polecat' come from Lat. pūtidus 'stinking' (ML 688). Ital. puzzola, Ferraran sputsal, Pavian spüson and Soran kano pettsill'e 'polecat' are derived from L. Latin *putium 'stench' (ML 6878ff.). (Cf. Fr. punaise 'bed-bug' from L. Latin pūtināsius 'stinking'). Finally, Pol. tchórz, SCr. tvor, Russ. chorь, chorekь 'polecat' from an earlier *dihorь 'stinker'.

After this, what can be the meaning of the assumed participial forms: *illenti, *ellenti? The lack in West Germanic of a verb, with a corresponding form and meaning, is more than offset by the ON ilma 'smell sweet, scent', ilmr 'sweet smell, fragrance', etc. At the same time it should be noted that the interchange between 'smell sweet' and 'stink' is rather common, as can be seen from OHG stinkan 'emit a smell, be fragrant', OE stincan 'be fragrant, stink', Lett. smirdet 'stink' and smarša 'odor', Russ. vonь 'stench', SCr. vonj 'fragrance', Russ. vonjată 'stink', Pol. woniec' 'smell, be fragrant', etc. It is not unreasonable, therefore, to set up for OHG or West Germanic forms such as *illon, *illen, *ellon, *ellen, etc., with the meaning 'smell, reek, stink'. Thus the assumed *ellenti-wiso, with its actual historical forms, means simply 'the stinking weasel', identifying the animal by its most striking characteristic.

Compared with Fr. (chat) putois 'stinking cat', NE polecat and Soran kano pettsill'e 'stinking dog', in NHG Iltis we find another animal involved: the weasel. Since this latter presumably also means 'stinker',

« ZurückWeiter »