Dravidian and Altaic "Sheep - Deer - Cattle"
p. 333-345
Texte intégral
0.
The work on Dravidian and Altaic became more serious with the publications of K. H. Menges (1964, 1977) outlining certain formal and also typological characteristics shared by these languages. My early presentation of some general problems and morphological similarities (Vacek 1978) was partly inspired by K. H. Menges and especially by my practical exposure to Mongolian starting from the middle of the 1970s. Besides a statement on the phonological correspondences (Vacek 1981), my subsequent work mostly dealt with problems of basic vocabulary, especially verbs (Vacek 1981, 1983, 1992 b, c; 1994; 1995, 1996b, 1998, 2000), which represent the most important lexical class, but it also included the kinship terms (Vacek, Lubsangdorji 1994). The early work concentrated mainly on Dravidian and Mongolian and starting with the early 1990s, more and more attention was paid to Manchu-Tungus, which appears to be a particularly fruitful source in comparison with Dravidian, and also Turkic (especially Old Turkic), occasionally Japanese and Finno-Ugrian. Natural phenomena as reflected in the basic vocabulary were sometimes also considered, a systematic study came more recently (2001a, b; 2002). The living nature has been taken up recently in a paper discussing several etymons for "deer - antelope - bull" (Vacek forthcoming), a topic, which the present paper develops further. A more general summary of the problem of long-range comparison of Dravidian was prepared by K. V. Zvelebil (1990, 84ff., and especially 99ff. for Uralian and Altaic; 1991).
1Formally the following comparison is based on the first syllable (VC-, CVC-). It reflects the basic phonological correspondences as they were stated in my 1981 paper and further refined in more recent studies, particularly in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Especially relevant in this context is the fuzzy set of correspondences of the cerebral stops, retroflex liquids, dental stops and dental liquids (Nos. 2 and 3 below, and partly No. 4 - dental and cacuminal stops and nasals), for which some material was presented in my recent work.1 From that point of view there can also be an interrelation between the first four etyma as a whole, whose implications will have to be discussed at a later time. In the context of a great number of quite regular Dravidian and Altaic correspondences established earlier, this irregularity of the relations within the above mentioned "fuzzy set" (together with some other irregularities), seems to imply that the "irregular" development may have been triggered within an early linguistic area (or areas?) possibly somewhere in Central Asia to continue later on the Indian soil (cf. also Zvelebil 1990, p. 99ff., and 1991).
2The semantic variation obviously reflects the changing natural and economic conditions at an early stage of development of the respective communities and their languages. At first sight the semantic range encountered in the etyma selected for this paper (particularly the great group of formally close words, Nos. 1-4) may seem discouraging. The respective etyma in the DEDR represent an attempt to make a detailed formal and partly also semantic classification of the respective lexical items (e.g. cf. DEDR 1114 and 1123 in No. 3, which are very close to homophony), but the semantic variation cannot be avoided fully (e.g. DEDR 2199 in No. 2, including also "the young"). In some cases the lexemes may have to be split and connected with other etyma (e.g. DEDR 2074 and 2256 in No. 2). One aspect is the alternation of the referent along the range of various types of domestic cattle (bull, ox, cow, etc.) and wild game (deer, antelope, elk, bison, etc.). As for the relation to "small cattle", viz. sheep and goat, the two formally related groups of words in Nos. 1 and 2 show that the semantic range can be seen as a continuum including various types of large and small cattle. The same may also be observed in No. 5 and its Turkic representations. Generally speaking, the semantic variation seems to confirm what was suggested in connection with the formal variation. Provided that we accept the material presented here (and also previously in Vacek forthcoming),2 the semantic variation also seems to confirm the possibility of spontaneous development within an ancient linguistic area.
3In the margin, this paper refers to several Sanskrit words, which may be suspected of having been borrowed from some of the following etyma or from their variant forms.
1.
Ta. koṟi sheep
Ma. koṟi a small kind of sheep
Ko. kory a: ṛ sheep (a: ṛ goat)
To. kuṟi sheep
Ka. kuṟi, koṟi sheep, ram
Koḍ. kori sheep
Tu kuri id.
Te. goṟe, goṟṟe, goṟṟiya, goṟiya, gorre, gor (r) iya id.
Kol. gore id.; Nk. gorre id.
Go. gorre id.; gore goat
Konḍa goṟe id.
Kuwi gōri, gorri, gore id.; gorri id., sheep [DEDR 2165a]3
cf.
Ma. koṟṟan ram, boar, tomcat | [DEDR 2170] |
? Go. kodama female sheep | Subrahmanyam 1968, p. 152, No. 216 |
* | (cf. DEDR 1123, No. 2, below) |
Mo. xuraγ-a (n), xurγ-a (n) lamb |

* | |
OT. | |
kuzi: lamb | Cl. 681 |
QOZÏ lamb | OTD s. v. |
Uig. kozy Lamm | |
Middle Turkic kozy Schaf | |
Osm. etc. kozu Lamm | Räs. 285a |
Oir. etc. kuran Rehbock | |
Oir. kuranak ein zweijähriger Rehbock (from Mo.) | Räs. 302b |
One group of Turkic words (according to Clauson preserved in most of the Turkic languages) contains an affricate or sibilant, which seems to have some relation to the above lexemes. Its status, however, cannot be exactly determined (because the affricate or voiceless sibilant does not represent the proper correspondence with the respective Mongolian liquid, which should be z as above) though the formal and semantic closeness cannot be denied. Cf.4
2.
Te. goṟṟe in: kukka-gorre barking deer, Cervulus muntjac (also "jungle sheep")
koṇḍa-goṟṟe, koṇḍa-gorre deer, antelope
Kol. goria deer, antelope
Go. gorre four-horned antelope; gore deer [DEDR 2165b]
Kol. kori antelope
Pa. kuri id.
Ga. kuruy deer
Go. kurs deer, antelope
Kui kruhu, krusu barking deer, jungle sheep
Kuwi kluhu antelope; kruhu, kurhu antelope
? Ma. kūran hog-deer
Cf. Skt. kuraṅga- a species of antelope, antelope or deer in general
[DEDR 1785]7
Konḍa kōṟi buffalo
Pe. kuḍru id.
Manḍ. kuḍru id.
Kui kōṟu id.
Kuwi kōḍru, kōḍrū, gōḍru id. [DEDR 2256]
Te. goḍḍu any beast, a beast
goḍlu kine, horned cattle
Go. goḍ, goḍu, goḍḍu cow, cattle
Konḍa goḍu goḍra cattle, etc. [DEDR 2074b]8
Kol. kurra male calf
Nk. kurra id.
Pa. kurra id.
Go. kurra, kurrā, kuraid., bull calf
Konḍa kuṟa male calf
Kuwi kurra ḍālu id. [DEDR 1801]
Ta. kūḷi ox, covering bull
Ko. gu: ḷy bull belonging to a dead man, that is released from work until its death
To. ku: ḷy stud bull
Ka. gūḷi bull, esp. a bull allowed to roam at liberty and dedicated to a deity Koḍ. gu: ḷi a bull [DEDR 1917]
Te. kōḍiya, kōḍe young bull; young, youthful
Kol. kōḍē bull
Nk. khoṛe male calf
Konḍa kōḍi cow
kōṛe young bullock
Pe. kōḍi cow
Manḍ. kūḍi id.
Kui kōḍi id., ox
Kuwi kōdi cow
kajja kōḍi bull
kōḍi cow [DEDR 2199]9
Kol. ku:ṭe cow
Nk. khūṭe, kūṭe id. [DEDR 1886]
Pa. guḍva nilgai | |
Go. koḍal (māv) a kind of deer | |
Ga. guri goḍ bison | |
Konḍa gura bison | [DEDR 1664] |
Pe. koṭra1 antelope | Burrow, Bhattacharya 1970, p. 20210 |
Kur. koṭrā deer (of the size of a goat) | Bleses, 1956, p. 49 |
*
Mo. γura roebuck; wild goat11
xotul (i) two-year-old marmot; young deer
*

*12 | |
OT. | |
QUTUZ I noble deer, maral (?) | OTD s. v. |
QUTUR I id. | |
kotuz yak | Cl. 608 (cf. also No. 3) |

3.
Ta. kaṭavu, kaṭā, kaṭāy male of sheep or goat, he-buffalo
kiṭā buffalo, bull, ram
kiṭāy male of sheep
kaṭāri, kiṭāri heifer, young cow that has not calved
kaṭamai female of the goat13
Ma. kaṭā, kiṭā, kiṭāvu male of cattle, young and vigorous; child, young person
kaṭacci heifer, young cow, calf
kiṭāri a cow-calf, heifer; female buffalo
Ko. kaṛc na: g buffalo calf between two and three years
kaṛc kurl cow calf between two and three years
Ka. kaḍasu young cow or buffalo that has not yet calved
Koḍ. kaḍïci id.
Tu. gaḍasu○ id.
Te. krēpu calf (or with 1594 Ta. ciṟu)
Go. kāṛā young buffalo
Konḍagṛālu calf
Kui grāḍu, ḍrāḍu id.
gāṛo a bullock or buffalo not trained to the plough
kṛai young female buffalo or goat
Kuwi ḍālu, dālu calf
Kur. kaṛā young male buffalo
kaṛī young female buffalo
kaṛrū, kaḍrū buffalo calf (male or female)
Br. xarās bull, bullock
xaṛ ram
Cf. CDIAL, No. 2645 *kaṭṭa- (also Skt. kaṭāha- a young female buffalo whose horns are just appearing) and No. 2658 *kaḍḍa-14
[DEDR 1123]
Ta. kaṭamā, kaṭamāṉ bison
kaṭamai, kaṭampai elk
Ma. kaṭamān elk, fallow deer
Ka. kaḍave, kaḍava, kaḍaba, kaḍabe, kaḍavu, kaḍaha elk; Indian stag, Rusa aristotelis kaḍiti, gaṇaje a kind of deer or elk
kaḍE stag
Koḍ. kaḍamë sambur
Tu. kaḍama stag, elk
Te. kaḍãti, kaṇãti musk deer
kaḍãju, kaḍiti, kaṇãju, kaṇiti nilgao, a species of antelope
kaṇuju sambur deer | |
Kol. kaḍas id. | |
Nk. kaṛas id. | |
Kur. kããrsā, kãrsā male of the bādō-deer | [DEDR 1114] |
Ta. kāḷai steer, bull, ox | |
Ma. kāḷa bull, bullock | |
Koḍ. ka: ḷe bul which is leader of the herd | [DEDR 1502] |
Ir. kë: ḷe, ko: ḷe, kö:ḷe barking deer | |
ĀlKu. kë:yi id. | |
Ko. ke: y wild goat (?) | |
[To. kö: g barking deer | |
Koḍ. ke:më id. ]15 | [DEDR 2016] |

*
Mo. görügesü (n) wild herbivorous animal, game, beast; antelope (Kh. göröös)
(cf. also Go. kurs in DEDR 1785; No. 2 above)
The rounded vowel in the first syllable of this Mongolian word corresponds to front vowels in Dravidian (cf. Vacek 1996b, 333; further cf. also No. 2 above) and the lexeme corresponds to one part of the above Dravidian words with front vowels.
* | |
MT. | |
KĀTER deer (Evenk.) | MTD I, 385 |
KALIR elk (wooden representation of the spirit helping the Shaman; Evenk.) MTD I, 367
KŌRBĒ bull, bull of deer | (Evenk., Even., Neg., Orok.) | MTD I, 414 |
(cf. also No. 2.?) |
? KELDENE deer with antlers of uneven length MTD I, 44616
GILGE deer | (Evenk., Even., Neg., Oroch., Ud.) | MTD I, 150 |
GILDUKA | domestic deer | (Evenk., Even., Neg.) | MTD I, 150 |
Note that the MT. lexemes display the same variation of intervocalic consonants (dental stops and liquids) and vowels (front and back) as the Dravidian etyma (except the retroflex liquids and cacuminal stops, for which cf. Note 1 above).
* | |
? OT. | |
katir mule | Cl. 604 |
4.
Ka. gōnde bull, ox
Te. gōda ox
Kol. kondā bull; kōnda bullock
Nk. kōnda bullock
Pa. kōnda bison
Ga. kōnde cow; kōndē bullock
Go. kōnḍā, kōnda bullock, ox [DEDR 2216]17
Kuwi goṇda bison | Israel, 1979, p. 359 |
Pe. ganḍa1 bison | Burrow, Bhattachara 1970, p. 203 |
? Kur. gūnḍī heifer | Bleses 1956, p. 82 |
*
Mo. xandaγai elk, sort of moose18
*
MT.
KĒNDE deer (harnessed) (Even.) MTD I, 44819
KANDATĀ elk MTD I, 37220
Evenk. id.
Ma. qandax○an elk (male)
* | ||
TURKIC | ||
Dol. käntär | wildes Rentier | Stachowski 1998, p. 147 |
With the above exception, Turkic does not seem to possess a proper parallel with the above etymon. A formally identical word has a meaning, which may be difficult to accept as a parallel, viz.:
kunduz beaver | Cl. 635 (for more examples cf. Räs. 301a) |
QUNDUZ id. | OTD s. v. |
Note also the Te. word without nasal in DEDR 2216 and compare it with OT. kotuz yak (Cl. 608; cf. No. 2 above).
5.
Ta. takar sheep, ram, goat, male of certain animals | |
Ma. takaran huge, powerful as a man, bear, etc. | |
Ka. tagar, ṭagaru, ṭagara, ṭegaru ram | |
Tu. tagaru, ṭagaru○ id. | |
Te. tagaramu, tagaru id. | [DEDR 3000]21 |
Go. ḍagga: ri: male sambar | Subrahmanyam, 1968, p. 204, No. 692 |
OTa. takar is attested in Sangam literature with a total of six occurrences (Lehman, Malten 1992, s. v.), in other words the lexeme is attested two thousand years back.
*
Mo. teke wild goat, ibex (Capra siberica); uncastrated goat22
?taki wild horse, Equus przewalskii
daγaγ-a (n) 2., daγ-a (n) colt between one and two years
toki 2. full-grown elk
tuγul calf less than a year old

Ma. tox○o elk (grown up) | |
? TAKI wild horse (Ma.) | MTD II, 153 |
TEXE I he-goat (Sol., Ma. < Mo.) | MTD II, 230 |
TIუER deer (taboo) (Evenk.) | MTD II, 185 |
TIPAუA male elk (Oroch.) | MTD II, 185 |
DEVJE I moschus (Moschus Moschiferus L.) (Evenk.) | MTD I, 228 |
? TUKUČĒN calf (of elk) | MTD II, 210 |
Evenk. id. etc . (Sol., Even., Ma.) |
* | |
OT. | |
TEKÄ | Cl. 477 |
tokli: a lamb (older than kozi: but younger than ko: j) | Cl. 469 |
?tüge: a (half-grown) calf | Cl. 478 |
Chuv. taka ram, sheep | Egorov 1964, p. 227 (cf. also Novikova 1972, 128) |
etc. in a number of Turkic languages |
But there is a Turkic lexeme with intervocalic labial, which is the accepted parallel of the Mongolian intervocalic velar,25 viz.26

Some Turkic languages, however, have preserved the original meaning, e.g.
Turkic davar cattle, live stock; herd of sheep
Kirghiz tubar ripe female of an animal
Kumyk tuvar cattle
Turkmen davar id.
OT. tuvarči herdsman (according to Gabain; OTD or Cl. do not seem to have the word)
etc. Egorov 1964, p. 227
Chagatai, Osm. tavar Haustiere, das Vieh, haupts. die Schafe Räs. 451b
Turkm. tüve heifer27-28 Cl. 478 (s. v. tüge: , cf. above)

By the same logic it would seem quite probable that the Turkic forms with intervocalic velar should be considered as borrowed from Mongolian.29
4In conclusion we should say that the above lexemes reflect an important feature of the environmental biosphere of early human society. In that context it would be only natural that these lexemes should copy flexibly the conditions of the natural surroundings and that they would adapt to the eventually changing referents (types of animals in the changing natural conditions, new types of biospheres to which the respective communities or their parts moved at certain points of time). We can only generally envisage the respective natural conditions, which at present are represented by the fauna of tropical India at one margin of the territory and by the fauna of the frosty North at the other margin.
Bibliographie
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Notes de bas de page
1 On the correspondence of Dravidian retroflex liquids to dental or alveolar liquids in Dravidian and Altaic, cf. Vacek 2002, pp. 32, 282ff. Further cf. the idea of spontaneous cerebralization expounded especially by T. Burrow (1971) for IA, which I take to be a more general phenomenon to be encountered in all the languages of the Indian linguistic area (Vacek 1995, 19-20).
2 K. E. Koskinen, who offers a number of interesting etymologies in the field of Dravidian, Altaic and Finno-Ugrian (but also a considerable number of etymologies, which are difficult to accept), joins several of the Dravidian etyma listed in No. 2 below, viz. DEDR 2165a, 2256, 1299 into one group (Dravidian in the Light of Nostratic, no place, no date, probably 1996, No. 119).
3 The Ta. word of this etymon is not found in Old Tamil literature. According to the TL (s. v.), it is attested quite late in more recent times. For a possible IA reflection cf. Skt. kurarī ewe (Burrow BSOAS 12, 1948, 374; cf. Burrow 1968, p. 195, No. 89). Mayrhofer (KEWA II, 235): vielleicht dravidisch… Zweifelhaft; later (EWA III, 109) he designates the word as "unklar". However, a closeness of the two etyma cannot be denied.
4 Evenk. kōraj, with variants kōrai, kōren, kavur (goat; MTD I, 414) obviously does not belong to this etymon, since its long vowel goes back to the form with intervocalic labial. Cf. also Novikova (1972, p. 128), who derives the Evenki form from Bur. xuurai wild goat (from *kuγurai) and further adds Yak. xoroi, xuorai young deer of one or two years. Novikova calls the relation between the Buriat and Yakut words "accord" or "approximation" (sbliženie). She is wondering (ibid. Note 166) what should be the etymology of these words to explain why it is possible to use the same designation for a young deer and a wild goat. We may theorise that such cases are perhaps not so much a question of etymology as of a semantic shift occurring with the respective designation, which can take place under various "social-economic" conditions. However, the Yakut word probably does not belong to the same etymological nest (cf. No. 2 below).
5 In other languages the form is expanded to koçkar, koçუa: r etc. (Cl. 592). According to Clauson the word was borrowed into Mongolian as xuca (n) ram; uncastrated lamb. According to Novikova (1972, 114, Note 64) the etymology of the base qoč-, qočun- and of the derivative element *-gar is not clear.
6 In Russko-Nogajskij slovaŕ, Moskva 1956, s. v. baran.
7 Cf. Mayrhofer (EWA I, 375): kuluṅgá- Antilope (Kāṭh., VS, TS); MS kulaṅgá-, AVP (und kl.) kuruṅgá- Antilope. Mayrhofer considers the Skt. word to be "Nicht überzeugend erklärt". The word appears rather early in IA. Mayrhofer further refers to the suggestion of Morgenstierne that Khowar kuraṅg light chestnut colour should be referred to the words for "antelope". Morgenstierne´s interpretation (KEWA III, 677) as *ku-raṅga- (of poor colour) is obviously a folk etymology. On the other hand it may be interesting to compare the word with a (rather poorly attested) Dravidian lexeme for "brown" and with several (more consistently attested) Altaic words:
Ta. kurāl dim, tawny colour;
Ma. kurāl, kirāl brown [DEDR 1776]
Mo. küreng, küren, kürin (dark) brown, maroon (esp. of fur); deep violet
?kürel bronze
Turkic küräუ braun; etc. (from Mo.) Räs. 310b
küzän Iltis; etc. (parallel with Mo. küreng) Räs. 312b
(Cf. also Novikova 1972, p. 118ff. for motivated designations of animals based on colours including also "brown", ibid., p. 119)
8 One part of the etymon has the meaning of "barren" (woman, cow etc.). It seems that the general meaning of "cattle" has to be separated from the specific meaning "barren" and connected with the rest of the formal and semantic continuum of this group of etyma.
9 Cf. Skt. gotā Kuh (EWA III, 164), which Mayrhofer relates to gáv-.
10 Burrow and Bhattacharya consider the word to be from Oriya, but compare the phonetic shape and the meaning of the word in the context of this series of etyma. Could this and the following Kurukh word represent a borrowing of an originally Dravidian word from Oriya?
11 According to Novikova (1972, p. 128, Note 163 quoting Poppe), the etymology of this Mongolian lexeme is not clear.
12 I am unable to determine whether this term can have an etymology explaining the specified physical features of the animal and therefore I keep the word with a question mark.
13 TL has kaṭamai2 ewe (Tol. Po. 619); as for TL kaṭamai3 elk, cf. DEDR 1114 below. The latter occurs e.g. in Kuṟu. 392,4 (cf. also Krishnambal 1974, s. v.). Cf. Go. kodama female sheep (No. 1 above).
14 In EWA (III, 48) Mayrhofer mentions the possibility of a connection with this Dravidian etymon ("Vielleicht dravidisch"). Further cf. Skt. kadalī eine Antilopen-Art (EWA III, 54: "Nicht klar." " "Verwandschaft mit Farbwörtern wie kádru- ist nicht auszuschließen.")
gaḍi, gali junger Stier (EWA III, 150: "Unklar "; KEWA I, 316: "unklar und fremder Herkunft verdächtig")
?gaḍḍārikā1, gaḍḍarikā ein der Herde vorangehendes Mutterschaf; Pkt. gaḍḍarī goat, ewe (EWA III, 150: "Unklar"). For the form of the last two words cf. also Skt. kurarī, Note 3 above.
15 The last two words may be only loosely related with the rest of the etymon. Phonetically related lexemes (intervocalic velars and labials) may be found in Kur. gaoṛ, gawar buffalo (Bleses, 1956, p. 29, s. v. buffalo) or MT: XĒKE deer (half-blooded) (Orok.) MTD I, 480.
16 Could this word be a designation motivated by the physical property of the animal? There are lexemes of the same phonetic shape implying "breaking" (KELTE- to break away, MTD I, 446) or "crooked" (KELTEKE crooked, curved, MTD I, 447) in MT.
17 There is another Dravidian etymon, which may be related with this group of words, viz.
Te. gēde a she-buffalo; Konḍa geyda id.; Kuwi gedde id. (DEDR 2000). Cf. also the following MT. word.
18 For a specification of possible motivations of this Mongolian word, cf. Novikova 1972, p. 126, Note 149.
19 Besides the purely Altaic etymologies, there seems to be a good parallel in Finno-Ugrian, also displaying a front vowel in some variants. Koskinen (p. 51, No. 123; cf. above Note 2) finds a Finno-Ugrian etymology for DEDR 2216:
FU kunta2 wildes Rentier (wild reindeer) (cf. Rédei, 1988, p. 206 for further variants including a front vowel in the first syllable reminding of the MT. form, and also an intervocalic liquid besides an intervocalic dental).
20 Though MTD does not say so (the dictionary only refers to the above Mongolian form for comparison), the MT. word may be either a borrowing from Mongolian or it may have been influenced by Mongolian. The previous Even. word may be the only testimony of a real MT. etymon.
21 ? Kuwi duba gori a type of sheep Israel, 1979, p. 377
For gori cf. No. 1 above; the meaning of duba cannot be established at the moment, but the form may be related with this etymon and the further Altaic forms below. The phrase may also be a coordinate pair of the dvandva type (cf. J. Vacek, On Semantic Reduplication in Indian Languages, ArOr 57, 4, 347-358).
22 Koskinen (p. 57, No. 157; cf. above Note 2) connects Ta. takar (DEDR 3000) with Mo. degelen coat, and Mo. zegeren antelope; however, the latter goes better with Ka. jiṅke antelope, etc. (DEDR 2504, cf. Vacek forthcoming, No. 3).
23 The MT. examples display a full scale of forms, with the intervocalic consonant variation, including intervocalic labials and velars (also velar nasals), which was shown in my earlier work,
24 The long vowel here may be a result of contraction of intervocalic velar (cf. the second Evenki form and above Note 4)). In that case the word would have to be reconsidered for this etymology. But the intervocalic labial may also fit the picture as a parallel with the respective Turkic forms below, only followed by a different suffix.
25 For examples of Mo. intervocalic velar and Turkic intervocalic labial cf. Vacek, forthcoming, Note 14. Some of the words also have potential Dravidian parallels. Further cf. e.g.
(1) Mo. taγala- to desire, love, find pleasure in something, be pleased etc.; OT. tapla: to be pleased (Cl. 440); cf. Tu. tabakuni to desire, wish, covet; etc. (DEDR 3077); cf. also Te. tagulu, tavulu wish, desire, (attachment, interest) (s. v. DEDR 3004) and Ta. takai love, affection, kindness etc., etc. (s. v. DEDR 3005)
(2) Mo. sigür broom, whisk broom; OT. sipir- to sweep (Cl. 791); cf. also Ta. cī- to sweep off etc., Ka. cīpari broom, Pa. cēpid broom; etc. (DEDR 2599)
(3) Mo. aγur 1 ab. breath, aγušgi (n) lungs; OT. öpke lungs (Cl. 9); cf. Ta. āvi to sigh; breath, sigh (DEDR 393); Kui ūkuṛi breath, respiration; etc. (s. v. DEDR 741)
26 Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, IV, Moskva 1973, s. v. továr I merchandise, (horned) cattle (borrowed from Uigur). The word is also attested in Old Church Slavonic and in other Slavonic languages (see V. Machek, Etymologický slovník jazyka českého, Prague 1971, p. 684), including Czech tovar goods, merchandise. The original meaning of "cattle" is preserved e.g. in Ukrainian (merchandise, cattle). The Russian designation of "comrade" in the political sense - tovarišč - is also derived from this etymon.
27 The last two words, however, may also be referred to a series of words with "front vowels", mostly meaning "camel" in Altaic, but cf. the Finnish word below:
Uig. etc. täbä Kamel, etc., etc., Mo. temege (n) camel, Finnish teva, tevana Elch, Elentier, Rentier (sic!) (Räs. 468a; for FU further cf. Rédei, p. 522). Further cf. the form OT. tevey camel (Cl. 447-8, expressing doubt about the "original form of this word").
Further cf. Novikova´s summary of the problems around "camel" in Altaic (Novikova 1972, p. 110- 11 and Note 33; referring also to the paper by K. H. Menges in UJ XV, 1935, 517-840).
28 Initial y- in Turkic often corresponds to initial dental stop in Mongolian. Clauson etymologises this word from a root meaning "matted hair, or wool", and thus connects the word with Mo. daγaki snarl, tangle; combings of hair; shedding of hair etc. Räs. 187b-188a, s. v. Osm. japak ein noch suagendes Füllen, etc., refers the word to Mo. daγaγ-a (n) and distinguishes it from Chag., Osm. japak Vliess, Wolle etc., which he compares with Mo. daγaki as above. The interpretation of Räsänen is obviously to be preferred to that of Clauson.
29 This may not be acceptable to all specialists in Altaic linguistics, but cf. Poppe´s discussion of Altaic intervocalic *-p-, *-b- and their reflection in Mongolian, Old Turkic and other Altaic languages (Poppe 1960, p. 46ff.).
30 The abbreviations of languages used here are those commonly used in the respective branches of Altaic and Dravidian and may be found in the quoted dictionaries. The lexical material is mainly drawn from these dictionaries. All the dictionaries are quoted in the end of the listed etyma. For Mongolian the only source is Lessing´s dictionary, in which the words are easy to locate, and thus it does not have to be specifically quoted. A few more lexemes are added for Dravidian and Turkic from sources listed further below.
Auteur
-
Jaroslav Vacek
Jaroslav Vacek (b. 1943), PhDr., CSc., professor of Sanskrit and Tamil. Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague (since 2003). Has taught Sanskrit and Tamil since 1967, and between 1975 and 1989 also Mongolian. Besides textbooks (A Tamil Reader Introducing Sangam Literature, co-author S.V. Subramanian. Madras 1989; Textbooks of Mongolian I-IV, co-authors J. Lubsangdorji et alia. Prague 1979-1990) and translations, he wrote on problems of linguistics, comparative Dravidian and Altaic (Dravidian and Altaic ’Water - Viscosity - Cold’. An Etymological and Typological Model. Prague 2002, 359 pp.), and classical Indian literatures (Pandanus series since 1998). Vice-Rector of Charles University for international relations (1994-1997). Further cf. http://iu.ff.cuni.cz/
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
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