Pietroasa and other toponyms (etymology +)

[David Kiltz]

On 29.07.2006, at 12:50, ualarauans wrote:

> < IE *kouko- > PG. *xauxa- > Go. hauh-s, [...] the Alans, their  
> [the Goths]
> loyal allies [...], keeping
> till nowadays (in Ossetic) the word `xox', i.e. [kho:kh],
> for "mountain"...

Hi Ualarauns,

you seem to suggest here, that Ossetic _xox_ be a loan from Germanic,  
or Gothic more specifically.
It seems, however, dangerous to pick out this word from Ossetic and  
disregard its immediate relatives, the other Iranian languages. There  
we find, inter alia, OldPersian _kaufa-_ 'mountain'
Avestan _kaofa_ 'ridge, bump', MiddlePersian _kôf_ NPersian _kôh_.  
Cf. also Khotan-Sakian _kuvaa-_ (< *kaufaka-) 'mountain, hill, heap'.  
While I'm no expert in Ossetian, I'd rather connect the Ossetian word  
with its Iranian neighbours. We find related forms in other IE  
languages, too. Also with -p (Lith. _kaupas_ 'heap') and with *-b  
(Engl. _heap_, German _Haufe(n)). Interestingly, there are also  
tribal names connected with the term, cf. OldPersian _Âkaufačiya_.  
MPers. _Kôfêč_. While (possibly) people from heights and 'mountain- 
dwellers' are rather similar, the roots aren't identical, I think.

-Daweid

You are a member of the Gothic-L list.  To unsubscribe, send a blank email to <gothic-l-unsubscribe at egroups.com>. 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gothic-l/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    gothic-l-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/