Domesticating the Horse

[Patrick C. Ryan]

Dear Joat and IEists:

 ----- Original Message -----
From: <JoatSimeon at aol.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2000 8:53 PM

>> X99Lynx at aol.com writes:

>> To PIEians wild and tame seemed to be one and the same.

> -- PIE has another word for horse -- *markos -- which has a derived feminine
> in Germanic, *markiha.

<JS>
> In animal names a derived feminine in *-eha seems to denote a domestic animal
> (eg., PIE *h(1)ekueha, 'mare') and in *-iha denotes a wild animal.  (eg.,
> *ulkwiha, 'she-wolf).  Therefore the original meaning of *markhos was
> probably specifically a wild horse.

<PR>
Another point of view. It seems to me that IE *-y and *-H(2)e are both
established as feminine formants; and I would need several more examples to
be convinced that females are differentiated by wildness through these
suffixes.

By the way, Pokorny lists *u.lkwi: for 'female wolf'.  Where do you get
*ulkwiha?

<snip>

<JS>
> Although in point of fact, English has no separate word for "wild horse", and
> we distinguish the wild from the domestic variety without any particular
> problem.

<PR>
 Well, perhaps. But 'mustang' comes very close, does it not, to being a
'wild horse'?

Pat

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