Κένταυρος, Κέρβερος and Their Possible Etymological Relatives
-
Leonid Kulikov
Abstract
The article discusses the origin of two etymologically obscure Greek words, κένταυρος and Κέρβερος with their alleged Indo-Iranian cognates (Vedic Sanskrit gandharvá-, śárvarī- etc.). Both forms denote certain creatures of lower pantheons and do not have reliable Indo-European etymology. I will briefly discuss their mythological features and argue that they are likely to be borrowed from non-Indo-European language(s) spoken in the Ancient Near East, possibly related to Hurro-Urartian languages (and thus, eventually, to the North Caucasian macro-family).
Abstract
The article discusses the origin of two etymologically obscure Greek words, κένταυρος and Κέρβερος with their alleged Indo-Iranian cognates (Vedic Sanskrit gandharvá-, śárvarī- etc.). Both forms denote certain creatures of lower pantheons and do not have reliable Indo-European etymology. I will briefly discuss their mythological features and argue that they are likely to be borrowed from non-Indo-European language(s) spoken in the Ancient Near East, possibly related to Hurro-Urartian languages (and thus, eventually, to the North Caucasian macro-family).
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Figures and Charts IX
- List of Tables XI
- Abbreviations
- In Honour of Mark Janse 1
-
Part I: Greek Through the Ages — From Homer to Byzantium
- Hyperbaton and Homeric Colometry: A First Exploration 15
- Aspect in the Gortyn Law Code: The Subjectivity of the Category 41
- Tense, Aspect, Iterativity and Related Textual Criticism: A Case Study Based on Herodotos, Historiai 4.78 65
- The Tragic Aorist: A Well-defined and Homogeneous Group? 101
- Changes in Word Order: Scribal Corrections to the Placement of Clitic Pronouns 127
- Κένταυρος, Κέρβερος and Their Possible Etymological Relatives 139
- Light from Gothic on the Post-Classical Greek Lexicon 161
- The Theory of Semantic Fields and the Greek Lexicon: The Case of ΠΟΝΗΡΟΣ and its Semantic Congeners in the History of the Greek Language 167
- Figs and the City: A Comic Cocktail (Aristophanes, fr. [dub.] 955 Kassel-Austin, PCG) 197
- Musings on an Attic Muse: Three Ancient Responses to a Passage from Xenophon’s Anabasis 215
- ἐρρωμένος μοι διατελοῖς μετὰ τῶν φιλτάτων κύριέ μου ἀσύγκριτε: The Social Semiotics of Formulaic Extravagance in the Ancient Greek Epistolary Frame 237
- Homer in Byzantium: Comment parler des livres que l’on n’a pas lus? 271
- Koineization in Ancient Epirus: Some Additional Insights from Onomastics 301
- The Papyrus of the Curse of Artemisia: Dialect and Interference 333
-
Part II: Greek in Contact — Dialect and Diversity in the Modern Era
- On the So-Called Progressive in Romeyka 353
- The Exploitation of Turkish Dialectal Lexicography: Dialectal Turkish Loanwords in the Historical Dictionary of Cappadocian Dialects 381
- Investigating Derivational Borrowability in the Cappadocian Greek Dialectal Landscape: The Emergence of allo-morphomes 401
- Aivaliot Morphology: Selected Phenomena from Prefixization and Verb Borrowing 429
- Innovation and Retention in Silliot Greek 459
- The Historical Dictionary of Cappadocian Dialects as a Contribution to the Study of Variation and Change 477
- List of Contributors 503
- Index Rerum
- Index Nominum
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- List of Figures and Charts IX
- List of Tables XI
- Abbreviations
- In Honour of Mark Janse 1
-
Part I: Greek Through the Ages — From Homer to Byzantium
- Hyperbaton and Homeric Colometry: A First Exploration 15
- Aspect in the Gortyn Law Code: The Subjectivity of the Category 41
- Tense, Aspect, Iterativity and Related Textual Criticism: A Case Study Based on Herodotos, Historiai 4.78 65
- The Tragic Aorist: A Well-defined and Homogeneous Group? 101
- Changes in Word Order: Scribal Corrections to the Placement of Clitic Pronouns 127
- Κένταυρος, Κέρβερος and Their Possible Etymological Relatives 139
- Light from Gothic on the Post-Classical Greek Lexicon 161
- The Theory of Semantic Fields and the Greek Lexicon: The Case of ΠΟΝΗΡΟΣ and its Semantic Congeners in the History of the Greek Language 167
- Figs and the City: A Comic Cocktail (Aristophanes, fr. [dub.] 955 Kassel-Austin, PCG) 197
- Musings on an Attic Muse: Three Ancient Responses to a Passage from Xenophon’s Anabasis 215
- ἐρρωμένος μοι διατελοῖς μετὰ τῶν φιλτάτων κύριέ μου ἀσύγκριτε: The Social Semiotics of Formulaic Extravagance in the Ancient Greek Epistolary Frame 237
- Homer in Byzantium: Comment parler des livres que l’on n’a pas lus? 271
- Koineization in Ancient Epirus: Some Additional Insights from Onomastics 301
- The Papyrus of the Curse of Artemisia: Dialect and Interference 333
-
Part II: Greek in Contact — Dialect and Diversity in the Modern Era
- On the So-Called Progressive in Romeyka 353
- The Exploitation of Turkish Dialectal Lexicography: Dialectal Turkish Loanwords in the Historical Dictionary of Cappadocian Dialects 381
- Investigating Derivational Borrowability in the Cappadocian Greek Dialectal Landscape: The Emergence of allo-morphomes 401
- Aivaliot Morphology: Selected Phenomena from Prefixization and Verb Borrowing 429
- Innovation and Retention in Silliot Greek 459
- The Historical Dictionary of Cappadocian Dialects as a Contribution to the Study of Variation and Change 477
- List of Contributors 503
- Index Rerum
- Index Nominum
