About the Yew1

[Douglas G Kilday]

Eduard Selleslagh (28 Jun 2001) wrote:

>1. The very well known case of Lat. 'fagus' (Eng. beech and similar in other
>Germanic, e.g. beuk in Du.) and Gr. 'phe:gss' (Dor. phagss) (Eng. oak) proves
>that different trees can be meant by a name from the same IE source, even when
>all the peoples involved were probably equally familiar with both species. Can
>anybody suggest how this could happen?

I'm sure Steve Long could explain this on the basis of trees being named
after their practical use rather than by the recognition of distinct
breeding populations or "species". I have never denied that this occurs. We
have Lat. <quercus> 'oak' and Eng. <fir> both from PIE *perkwo-, in addition
to your example. My original comment about the yew and the PIE homeland
(which I never thought would generate any significant commotion) depended on
the yew being too distinctive in several respects to undergo name-shifting,
but such a claim can be challenged, and SL's postings are multiplying like
rabbits, much too rapidly for me to keep up.

>The only thing beech trees and oaks (but: what kind of oak? There are widely
>different types in N. and S. Europe) have in common is that they provide us
>with good quality (and dense) wood for making furniture. Any child can see the
>difference between a beech tree and an oak, especially by the leaves and the
>'fruits'. Seeing the difference between the two types of wood requires a
>little more competence, but not much.

It's worth noting here that French has <che^ne> 'oak' < Gaul. *cassanos, not
a reflex of <quercus>. The Celtic word resembles Gk. <kastenea>
'chestnut-tree', so we may have here borrowings from Old European for 'dense
wood' vel sim. If I'm not mistaken, oaks and chestnuts are classified in
Fagaceae, the "beech family".

>[Anecdotal info: I was born in Hoboken, a S. suburb of Antwerp, Belgium, which
>was founded by the Salic Franks after the 5th. c. (date unknown). In the 10th.
>c. a Latin text calls it Hobuechen, meaning 'High Beeches'. It is located on a
>former heath on glacial sand deposits. On less inhabited parts of this heath
>belt you can still find the odd taxus, but they are rather rare, if not
>exceptional]

Thanks. The name "Hoboken" (in New Jersey) puzzled me for years.

>2. There was a Belgic tribe called (by J. Caesar) the Eburones. Anything to do
>with ebur-, yew, bows, etc.? (I guess real ivory is to be excluded).

Most likely it has to do with the yew. Catuvolcus, who killed himself with
yew-poison, belonged to this tribe. Also, SW of the Seine, Caesar
encountered the Eburovices (mod. top. E'vreux) whose name apparently means
'yew-winners' (i.e. those who win battles with yew-bows) and contrasts with
the Lemovices 'elm-winners'.

I regard *ebur- 'yew' as pre-IE (Old European), but Lat. <e:bur> 'ivory' as
IE. Conventional wisdom takes the latter as a Hamitic loan (from Egy. <3bw>
vel sim.) which fails to explain the /r/ or the other peculiarities: nom.
<e:bur>, gen. <eboris>, adj. <eburn(e)us>. The long/short vowel-alternation
and -r/rn- behavior could hardly come from Hamitic, and loanwords are
usually normalized to common forms. This looks like an IE word which has
preserved two archaisms: the gradation seen in nom. <pe:s> 'foot', gen.
<pedis> and the alternation seen in nom. <acer> 'maple', adj. <acernus>.
Boars have ivory, and boar-hunting has been a macho-thing for millennia, so
it's not necessary to assume that PIE-speakers had access to elephant-tusks.

DGK