Random thought:
Maybe Proto-Germanic gaistaz ‘ghost, spirit, mind, agitation/fear’ is a prefixed nominal in ga- < *`oisħtos < root *`eysħ- forming words related to agitation, anger, excitement, propulsion etc
#dennydoeswords
Maybe Proto-Germanic gaistaz ‘ghost, spirit, mind, agitation/fear’ is a prefixed nominal in ga- < *`oisħtos < root *`eysħ- forming words related to agitation, anger, excitement, propulsion etc
#dennydoeswords
September 28, 2026 at 11:33 AM
Random thought:
Maybe Proto-Germanic gaistaz ‘ghost, spirit, mind, agitation/fear’ is a prefixed nominal in ga- < *`oisħtos < root *`eysħ- forming words related to agitation, anger, excitement, propulsion etc
#dennydoeswords
Maybe Proto-Germanic gaistaz ‘ghost, spirit, mind, agitation/fear’ is a prefixed nominal in ga- < *`oisħtos < root *`eysħ- forming words related to agitation, anger, excitement, propulsion etc
#dennydoeswords
The same root yielded a Celtic word for ‘forest’, the English word ‘heath’, Latvian kāja also meaning ‘leg’, and perhaps Sanskrit kaya ‘body, flesh’ #dennydoeswords
e.g. Matasovic and perhaps others seem to presume that Irish cos ‘leg’ and Welsh coes ‘leg’ are cognate, which seems reasonable at first glance, but ultimately I think they’re not even from the same root. I think the welsh comes from PCelt kaissus < *keħy-(t)- ‘dense, fleshy, bushy’ #dennydoeswords
September 25, 2026 at 9:25 PM
The same root yielded a Celtic word for ‘forest’, the English word ‘heath’, Latvian kāja also meaning ‘leg’, and perhaps Sanskrit kaya ‘body, flesh’ #dennydoeswords
And the Germanic cognate maguz are from PIE *mħeġh- ‘be reared, be brought up, be of remarkable size’ whence Lithuanian mažas ‘small’, Sanskrit mahā ‘big’ #dennydoeswords
September 25, 2026 at 9:33 PM
And the Germanic cognate maguz are from PIE *mħeġh- ‘be reared, be brought up, be of remarkable size’ whence Lithuanian mažas ‘small’, Sanskrit mahā ‘big’ #dennydoeswords
Re: the ‘folksy’ contractions, i postulate PCelt makŵos / makkŵos ‘son, boy’ < contraction of magŵākos < magus + -ākos with gemination only appearing in Goidelic perhaps because of how intervocalic -gŵ- was resolved in different branches of Celtic??? I dunno #dennydoeswords
September 25, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Re: the ‘folksy’ contractions, i postulate PCelt makŵos / makkŵos ‘son, boy’ < contraction of magŵākos < magus + -ākos with gemination only appearing in Goidelic perhaps because of how intervocalic -gŵ- was resolved in different branches of Celtic??? I dunno #dennydoeswords
Further I don’t think the idea that a sequence of plain voiced consonant + laryngeal yields a breathy voiced consonant in Sanskrit holds up under scrutiny. So it’s better to assume mahā- goes back to a root with -ġh- not -ġħ- #dennydoeswords
September 25, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Further I don’t think the idea that a sequence of plain voiced consonant + laryngeal yields a breathy voiced consonant in Sanskrit holds up under scrutiny. So it’s better to assume mahā- goes back to a root with -ġh- not -ġħ- #dennydoeswords
I’m mounting in suspicion that the name of the Elysian Fields in Greek mythology ultimately is borrowed from the Egyptian *(sāxat) ʀalūw ‘field of reeds’, perhaps via a Minoan or Tyrsenian intermediary. #dennydoeswords
For some reason the Greeks frequently added the suffix -sis to Egyptian words…
For some reason the Greeks frequently added the suffix -sis to Egyptian words…
August 31, 2026 at 9:37 AM
I’m mounting in suspicion that the name of the Elysian Fields in Greek mythology ultimately is borrowed from the Egyptian *(sāxat) ʀalūw ‘field of reeds’, perhaps via a Minoan or Tyrsenian intermediary. #dennydoeswords
For some reason the Greeks frequently added the suffix -sis to Egyptian words…
For some reason the Greeks frequently added the suffix -sis to Egyptian words…
e.g. Matasovic and perhaps others seem to presume that Irish cos ‘leg’ and Welsh coes ‘leg’ are cognate, which seems reasonable at first glance, but ultimately I think they’re not even from the same root. I think the welsh comes from PCelt kaissus < *keħy-(t)- ‘dense, fleshy, bushy’ #dennydoeswords
September 25, 2026 at 9:20 PM
e.g. Matasovic and perhaps others seem to presume that Irish cos ‘leg’ and Welsh coes ‘leg’ are cognate, which seems reasonable at first glance, but ultimately I think they’re not even from the same root. I think the welsh comes from PCelt kaissus < *keħy-(t)- ‘dense, fleshy, bushy’ #dennydoeswords
Cf. Sanskrit bandhura meaning both ‘beautiful’ and ‘curvy, wavy’, showing half-remembered meanings from the original sense of the root, ‘fair tresses’ #dennydoeswords
July 2, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Cf. Sanskrit bandhura meaning both ‘beautiful’ and ‘curvy, wavy’, showing half-remembered meanings from the original sense of the root, ‘fair tresses’ #dennydoeswords
And, fascinatingly, the same *-g- extension seems to be present in the English cognate “to stalk”, from more basal “to steal” (move along stealthily)
Thus a lion or jackal is a ‘prowler’ or ‘stalker’
#dennydoeswords
Thus a lion or jackal is a ‘prowler’ or ‘stalker’
#dennydoeswords
June 1, 2026 at 8:57 PM
And, fascinatingly, the same *-g- extension seems to be present in the English cognate “to stalk”, from more basal “to steal” (move along stealthily)
Thus a lion or jackal is a ‘prowler’ or ‘stalker’
#dennydoeswords
Thus a lion or jackal is a ‘prowler’ or ‘stalker’
#dennydoeswords
Nor the similarity with the Welsh mythical entity Dôn of the Mabinogion, which some have speculated to be an earth goddess from the oblique stem of Proto-Celtic *gdū ‘territory, earth’: *gdon(o)- #dennydoeswords
March 22, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Nor the similarity with the Welsh mythical entity Dôn of the Mabinogion, which some have speculated to be an earth goddess from the oblique stem of Proto-Celtic *gdū ‘territory, earth’: *gdon(o)- #dennydoeswords
But from a lexical standpoint, even if they were both ultimately earth goddesses, we can’t reconstruct a common root form connecting Irish Danu and Vedic Danu. It’s just an interesting case of convergent evolution. #dennydoeswords
March 22, 2025 at 4:05 PM
But from a lexical standpoint, even if they were both ultimately earth goddesses, we can’t reconstruct a common root form connecting Irish Danu and Vedic Danu. It’s just an interesting case of convergent evolution. #dennydoeswords
From the Indo-European root *gelħ(s)- we get such words as English “call”, Latin gallus ‘rooster’, Russian golos ‘voice’, etc.
From the root *wekŵ- come words like Latin ‘vox’, English ‘voice’, Proto-Germanic wihtiz ‘thing, entity’, etc.
#dennydoeswords
From the root *wekŵ- come words like Latin ‘vox’, English ‘voice’, Proto-Germanic wihtiz ‘thing, entity’, etc.
#dennydoeswords
May 29, 2025 at 9:38 PM
From the Indo-European root *gelħ(s)- we get such words as English “call”, Latin gallus ‘rooster’, Russian golos ‘voice’, etc.
From the root *wekŵ- come words like Latin ‘vox’, English ‘voice’, Proto-Germanic wihtiz ‘thing, entity’, etc.
#dennydoeswords
From the root *wekŵ- come words like Latin ‘vox’, English ‘voice’, Proto-Germanic wihtiz ‘thing, entity’, etc.
#dennydoeswords
If Dôn and Danu/Anu both represent reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European earth goddess *Dhéjhōm then their relationship to Vedic Danu becomes impossible, at least from an etymological standpoint. Vedic Danu is most often speculated to be a water or river goddess. #dennydoeswords
March 22, 2025 at 3:51 PM
If Dôn and Danu/Anu both represent reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European earth goddess *Dhéjhōm then their relationship to Vedic Danu becomes impossible, at least from an etymological standpoint. Vedic Danu is most often speculated to be a water or river goddess. #dennydoeswords
Well I am feeling like I’d rather die than live in this fascist hellscape, but howza bout instead I regale you fine internet folks with the latest in #dennydoeswords … Lusitanian language edition!
We know almost nothing about the Lusitanian language, but that hasn’t stopped me before
We know almost nothing about the Lusitanian language, but that hasn’t stopped me before
July 2, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Well I am feeling like I’d rather die than live in this fascist hellscape, but howza bout instead I regale you fine internet folks with the latest in #dennydoeswords … Lusitanian language edition!
We know almost nothing about the Lusitanian language, but that hasn’t stopped me before
We know almost nothing about the Lusitanian language, but that hasn’t stopped me before
I dunno if anyone has ever remarked on this but I think it’s a distinct possibility that the word “buy” is related to the words “bow” and “badge”. In early Germanic cultures one of the most common forms of currency was unisex jewelry items, especially rings, bracelets, and torcs. #dennydoeswords
November 24, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I dunno if anyone has ever remarked on this but I think it’s a distinct possibility that the word “buy” is related to the words “bow” and “badge”. In early Germanic cultures one of the most common forms of currency was unisex jewelry items, especially rings, bracelets, and torcs. #dennydoeswords
#dennydoeswords I have a hypothesis that the Ancient Greek adjective glaukós ‘gleaming, gray, blue-green’ is derived from the noun glaux ‘little owl’ < PIE *glħ(e)s-ukŵs ‘calling voice’ via reinterpretation of the very old and popular compound ‘glaukōp-‘ originally meaning “owl-eyed”
May 29, 2025 at 9:19 PM
#dennydoeswords I have a hypothesis that the Ancient Greek adjective glaukós ‘gleaming, gray, blue-green’ is derived from the noun glaux ‘little owl’ < PIE *glħ(e)s-ukŵs ‘calling voice’ via reinterpretation of the very old and popular compound ‘glaukōp-‘ originally meaning “owl-eyed”
#dennydoeswords if we want to connect the name of Eleusis, and perhaps the derived term from ēlysion, enēlysios, meaning ‘struck by lightning’ or ‘a place struck by lightning’ I think it’s better to assume the root word is Paeonian rather than Egyptian.
Yeah, it definitely doesn’t seem to be in the oldest inherited part of the Greek cosmology. And an objection might be that the Greeks didn’t borrow a lot of other terms or ideas from the Egyptians before the classical period. Which is part of why I hypothesize it came via an ‘Aegean’ intermediary
August 31, 2026 at 9:01 PM
#dennydoeswords if we want to connect the name of Eleusis, and perhaps the derived term from ēlysion, enēlysios, meaning ‘struck by lightning’ or ‘a place struck by lightning’ I think it’s better to assume the root word is Paeonian rather than Egyptian.
Such that *Gdonanū was shortened to something like *Gdanū, which should regularly give Old Irish Danu/Danann. The short version of her name was *Anū ‘ancestress’, from PIE *h2en- ‘ancestor, esp. female’. It’s possible she was cognate with the being called Dôn in Welsh mythology #dennydoeswords
March 22, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Such that *Gdonanū was shortened to something like *Gdanū, which should regularly give Old Irish Danu/Danann. The short version of her name was *Anū ‘ancestress’, from PIE *h2en- ‘ancestor, esp. female’. It’s possible she was cognate with the being called Dôn in Welsh mythology #dennydoeswords
In any case i think it’s highly unlikely that Irish Danu is cognate with Vedic Danu. The similarity in name is very probably a mere coincidence. Because Vedic Danu is a *u-stem noun of unknown significance, whereas Old Irish Danu comes from an *(o)n-stem noun. #dennydoeswords
March 22, 2025 at 3:37 PM
In any case i think it’s highly unlikely that Irish Danu is cognate with Vedic Danu. The similarity in name is very probably a mere coincidence. Because Vedic Danu is a *u-stem noun of unknown significance, whereas Old Irish Danu comes from an *(o)n-stem noun. #dennydoeswords
The root *gel- meaning ‘cold’ can also be reconstructed as *(s)gel with s-mobile, to explain e.g. Slavic *xoldǔ ‘cold’ < *sgol-dh-o-
If in pre-Armenian only the s-mobile was retained in the compound: *ħan(t)-sgōl-(s?n?) that could, I think, regularly yield the attested form acuł #dennydoeswords
If in pre-Armenian only the s-mobile was retained in the compound: *ħan(t)-sgōl-(s?n?) that could, I think, regularly yield the attested form acuł #dennydoeswords
September 11, 2026 at 10:32 AM
The root *gel- meaning ‘cold’ can also be reconstructed as *(s)gel with s-mobile, to explain e.g. Slavic *xoldǔ ‘cold’ < *sgol-dh-o-
If in pre-Armenian only the s-mobile was retained in the compound: *ħan(t)-sgōl-(s?n?) that could, I think, regularly yield the attested form acuł #dennydoeswords
If in pre-Armenian only the s-mobile was retained in the compound: *ħan(t)-sgōl-(s?n?) that could, I think, regularly yield the attested form acuł #dennydoeswords
The euphemistic term *duhvokanis ‘the bad word’ > modern Albanian vdekje ‘death’
Replaced whatever the inherited Indo-European word was < *mer- ‘to die’
Later, Albanian also borrowed the word ‘mort’ from the Vulgar Latin word for death *morte(m) < classical Latin mors
#dennydoeswords
Replaced whatever the inherited Indo-European word was < *mer- ‘to die’
Later, Albanian also borrowed the word ‘mort’ from the Vulgar Latin word for death *morte(m) < classical Latin mors
#dennydoeswords
September 13, 2026 at 6:55 PM
The euphemistic term *duhvokanis ‘the bad word’ > modern Albanian vdekje ‘death’
Replaced whatever the inherited Indo-European word was < *mer- ‘to die’
Later, Albanian also borrowed the word ‘mort’ from the Vulgar Latin word for death *morte(m) < classical Latin mors
#dennydoeswords
Replaced whatever the inherited Indo-European word was < *mer- ‘to die’
Later, Albanian also borrowed the word ‘mort’ from the Vulgar Latin word for death *morte(m) < classical Latin mors
#dennydoeswords
These avoidance terms for dying and death notably only apply to humans and for some reason bees, pointing to their ancient tabooistic origins (the verb for ‘to die’ of non-humans and non-bees is ngordh #dennydoeswords
September 13, 2026 at 7:01 PM
These avoidance terms for dying and death notably only apply to humans and for some reason bees, pointing to their ancient tabooistic origins (the verb for ‘to die’ of non-humans and non-bees is ngordh #dennydoeswords
Actually that hypothetical acoyl should prolly be aciwl? Would that reduce to acul when the second syllable wasn’t stressed? I dunno. What a mess. #dennydoeswords
September 11, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Actually that hypothetical acoyl should prolly be aciwl? Would that reduce to acul when the second syllable wasn’t stressed? I dunno. What a mess. #dennydoeswords
The only bit of corroborating evidence might be an Old Armenian word coyl “idle, lazy, lethargic” if the semantic drift was from “cold” to “inactive, listless” vriddhi *sgōlis vel sim but that’s not a certain etymology at all #dennydoeswords
September 11, 2026 at 10:37 AM
The only bit of corroborating evidence might be an Old Armenian word coyl “idle, lazy, lethargic” if the semantic drift was from “cold” to “inactive, listless” vriddhi *sgōlis vel sim but that’s not a certain etymology at all #dennydoeswords
*Aķsiö-huorġźös “sky-Huorgjos” >? Shurdh(i)? #dennydoeswords
September 10, 2026 at 10:04 AM
*Aķsiö-huorġźös “sky-Huorgjos” >? Shurdh(i)? #dennydoeswords