lupo cervino, loup-cervier....

[proto-language]

Dear Eleanora and IEists:

----- Original Message -----
From: "eleonora litta" <redux7 at hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 11:39 AM

> Hi everyone,
> in a XIV century Italian manuscript I have found this animal, apparently a
> lynx, which would symbolise the ability to judge distances, time, speed...
> (the manuscript is about fighting techniques, BTW). only this animal is
> called lupo cervino, which in italian would mean 'deer-wolf'. At the
> beginning I thought it was for the lynxs fur, spotted like the deer one,
> then a French guy told me that in France they have this loup-cervier, which
> is a big lynx who hunts deers, so I reconsidered my position. They also told
> me in a Spanish name for the lynx being lobo cerval.
> I have to find out which is the truth about all this. do you know something
> about the ancient names for 'lynx' in the IE languages, and about their
> evolution?

> Thank you for your help

[PCR]

Warning you in advance that this will be the view of an extreme minority, but I
believe the name is a compound derived from two elements: *le/ou-, 'antelope',
but also 'jumping' + *(n)ka-, 'feline'. It thus shares the same initial element
as *le/o(u)-, 'antelope' + *wa:-, 'wolf, predator' = 'lion'.

Quote me at your own risk?

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN | PROTO-LANGUAGE at email.msn.com (501) 227-9947 * 9115 W. 34th
St. Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES: PROTO-LANGUAGE:
http://www.geocities.com/proto-language/ and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit ec
at ec hecc, vindgá meiði a netr allar nío, geiri vndaþr . . . a þeim
meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn." (Hávamál 138)