| *H鈧乶胎g史nis | |
|---|---|
| Equivalents | |
| Hindu equivalent | Agni |
| Albanian equivalent | En |
| Baltic equivalent | Ungnis |
*H鈧乶胎g史nis is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the fire god in Proto-Indo-European mythology.
Name
The archaic Proto-Indo-European language (ca. 4500鈥4000 BC) had a two-gender system which originally divided words between animate and inanimate, a system used to distinguish a common term from its deified synonym. Therefore, fire as an animate entity and active force was known as *h鈧乶胎g史nis, while the inanimate entity and natural substance was named *p茅h鈧倁r (cf. Greek: 蟺蠀蟻, pyr; English: fire). [1] [2]
In some traditions, as the sacral name of the dangerous fire may have become a word taboo, [3] the stem *h鈧乶胎g史nis served as an ordinary term for fire, as in the Latin ignis. [1]
Evidence
-
PIE: *h鈧乶胎g史nis, the fire as an active force,
[1]
-
Indo-Iranian: Hagni-,
[4]
- Vedic: Agni (啶呧啷嵿え啶), a fire deity, [3]
- Young Avestan: D膩拧t-膩桑ni, [4]
-
Balto-Slavic: *ungnis,
[5]
- Lithuanian: Ugnis szwenta, 'Holy Fire', [6]
- Latvian: Uguns m膩te, 'Mother of Fire', [6]
- Proto-Albanian: *agni-, [7]
-
Indo-Iranian: Hagni-,
[4]
See also
References
Bibliography
- Derksen, Rick (2008). Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon. Brill. ISBN 9789004155046.
- Lubotsky, Alexander (2011), "Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon", Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project, Brill
- Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (2006). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929668-2.
- Orel, Vladimir (1998). Albanian etymological dictionary. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11024-3.
- West, Martin Litchfield (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9.