Camel

g_scaff g_scaff at YAHOO.COM
Fri Jul 17 21:33:26 UTC 2009


Greetings all, 
    I am asking for your insights re: the Gothic word "ulbandus", camel.  
    If I read Koebler correctly, this word derives from the Greek "elephantos", meaning "elephant", whereas the Greek word in the biblical text is "kamelos", meaning  "camel".     
   I guess that the Goths weren't overly familiar with either animal, but surely they must have seen them in the Roman world.  How did the word for elephant get substituted for camel? 
                                      thanks,
                                        Gregory


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