indoeuropean/hand

[Steve Gustafson]

Ed Selleslagh writes:

<<Actually it's 'cornu' in the nominative.>>

-Cornu- is "horn."  -Cornus- is the dogwood tree.

<<All tree names, also those with -u stems like 'quercus' (oak) (and -o stems
like po:pulus) are feminine.>>

I had ever understood that all trees were feminine for essentially
mythological reasons; they were thought to be the dwelling places of female
spirits.

<<Could there be some relationship here?  I mean
'extremities, branches...'.  That would also account for manus, acus, cornu
and
tribus being feminine, but not for domus nor idus.  'Foot, pes...' are
probably
not viewed as extremities, but as 'base' to stand on.>>

Now, my understanding is that the root idea of -idus- is of a division by
halves.  When the months used to be lunar, the kalends marked the first
appearance of the slip of the new moon, and the ides were the date of the
full moon.  Perhaps this could be worked into your hypothesis as well.

--
L'an mil neuf sens nonante neuf sept mois
Du ciel viendra grand Roy deffraieur
Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois
Avant apres Mars regner par bonheur.
                                --- M. de Notre-Dame