About the Yew1

[Brian M. Scott]

On 6 Jul 2001, at 2:34, X99Lynx at aol.com wrote:

> But see <kassia/kasia>, Grk; <cassia/casia>, Lat, cinnamon tree,
> any tree "with an aromatic bark";  <kissi^nos> Greek, "of ivy";
> <kissos>, Grk; <cissos> Lat, "English ivy" or a similar plant; Cf.,
> Lat <cossus>, a larva gathered from under the bark of trees,
> (Pliny); Lat <caesor>, a hewer of trees; <Caesia Silva>, a forest
> in ancient Germany.

I am reminded of Nennius, who had 'made a heap of all that [he]
could find', but being both an amateur and a relative beginner, I have a
few questions about just how much of a heap it is.

At the risk of exposing my ignorance, isn't Lat <caesor> from
something like *<caid-to:r>, with */dt/ > */ss/ and thence to /s/ after
the diphthong?  The root then is <caed-> (from PIE */keH2id-/, I
take it).

<Caesia Silva> is OHG <Heisi> 796.  E. Schwarz takes the /k-/ to
be a Celtic substitution for Gmc /x-/ in an underlying */xaisi/ 'beech'.
Buck also identifies MLat <Caesia Silva> (and OLG <he:siwald>) as
containing a 'beech' stem <heis->.  Does this appear outside of Gmc
(apart from borrowings like Fr <he^tre>)?  For that matter, does it
appear elsewhere in Gmc?

Finally, I note that Gk <kissós> (<kisso's>) has an Attic variant
<kittós> (<kitto's>); does this imply an older form with /-kj-/ or
perhaps /-tj-/?

Brian M. Scott