"nightmare"

[Larry Trask]

Steve Long writes:

> So once again, based on this much at least, it seems the "mare" (in
> nightmare) is a Germanic-Slavic thing.  And though the word may be
> reconstructible as IE, its meanings and usage appear to be too local and
> complex to justify seeing it as IE.  (Of course, I don't know how this whole
> idea ran in Basque.)

The only Basque word for 'nightmare' in the 'creature' sense I know of
is <inguma>.  This is pretty clearly of Latino-Romance origin, though
the direct source would appear to be an unrecorded Latin *<incuba>,
an altered form of the familiar <incubus>.  So far as I am aware, the
Basque word is unmarked for sex, and it translates both 'incubus' and
'succubus'.

Other Basque words, like <iratxo> and <mamu>, are used much more
generally, to denote just about any kind of hobgoblin or imp.

Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk

Tel: 01273-678693 (from UK); +44-1273-678693 (from abroad)
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