YAv. Spitiiura- and the Compositional Form of PIE *u̯r̥h1-en- ‘Lamb’ in Indo-Iranian
Abstract This paper argues that the second member of the Avestan compounded personal name Spitiiura - goes back to the Indo-Iranian word for ‘lamb’: Ved. úran -, Mod. Pers. barra . The name ‘having shining white lambs’ can be shown to have mythopoetic parallels in other Indo-European traditions. It...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Brill
2021
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In: |
Indo-Iranian journal
Year: 2021, Volume: 64, Issue: 2, Pages: 145-162 |
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Indo-Aryan languages
/ Mythology
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RelBib Classification: | KBM Asia |
Further subjects: | B
Spitiiura
B Iranian mythology B possessive compounds B Personal Names B Etymology B Purūravas B ašnō-rule B laryngeal loss |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | Abstract This paper argues that the second member of the Avestan compounded personal name Spitiiura - goes back to the Indo-Iranian word for ‘lamb’: Ved. úran -, Mod. Pers. barra . The name ‘having shining white lambs’ can be shown to have mythopoetic parallels in other Indo-European traditions. It is argued that the expected second member *- u̯r̥h 1 n-ó - formed from simplex * u̯r̥h 1 en - with a thematic suffix was analogically remodeled as *- u̯r̥h 1 -ó - in pre-Indo-Iranian times: the model was provided by second members of compounds made from n -stems which lost the nasal due to the so-called “ ašnō -rule”, e.g. Ved. víparva - made from * péru̯on - or YAv. ka-mərəda - made from * ml̥h 3 d h on- . Similar analogical remodeling is found in Ved. aṣṭavr̥ṣá - from vr̥ṣán - and many other cases. The compound further underwent a laryngeal loss by the so-called “νεογνός-rule” (cf. Ved. tuvigrá - ‘swallowing much’ < *- g w r̥h 3 -ó -) and the resulting sequence *- u̯r̥o - was resyllabified as *- uro -. Therefore, Av. º ura - can represent a “compositional form” of PIE * u̯r̥h 1 en - ‘lamb’ and Bartholomae’s analysis of Spitiiura - as ‘having shining white lambs’ may still carry the day. |
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ISSN: | 1572-8536 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Indo-Iranian journal
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15728536-06402003 |