I'd like to ask whether you could help me to clarify the root of
'devil'. I'm having a discussion with an American writer. We agree
that some words from Indo-European languages have their root in the
sanskrit stem 'deva', like 'deus' in Latin (consequently 'dios'
[Spanish], 'dieu' [French] for example), 'divine' in English and so
on.
We disagree about 'devil'. In my opinion the English 'devil' and the
German 'Teufel', too, have their root in 'deva' or 'div' while she
says this is not the case.
Now, there are some Internet sources supporting my opinion, but they
all don't seem to be scientifically based enough. Do you perhaps have
any idea?
Thanks!
Heiner Kottmann
... or rather, in a PIE root that is also the source of the Sanskrit
word. That's quite a difference.
> We disagree about 'devil'. In my opinion the English 'devil' and the
> German 'Teufel', too, have their root in 'deva' or 'div' while she
> says this is not the case.
Both "devil" and "Teufel" are ultimately derived from Greek "diabolos"
(slanderer), from "dia" + "ballein". (And no, "dia" has nothing to do
with the PIE root in question.)
HTH,
Péter
Not sure if this helps...but in Kannada(spoken in southern india),
'devva' means devil or 'rakshas'.
"masaladose" <masal...@hotmail.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
As a matter of interest, the Anglo Saxon words for 'devil' were 'deoful' and
'deofol'. Skeats 'Concise Dictionary of English Etymology' gives, however, a
latin-greek origin -diabolus. From an archeolinguistic point of view,
'ubersprach' rather than sanskrit is considered the 'root' of pan
Indo-European languages. However, there still are many exceptions. Welsh,
for instance.
Good luck.....
Will
> From an archeolinguistic point of view,
> 'ubersprach' rather than sanskrit is considered the 'root' of pan
> Indo-European languages. However, there still are many exceptions. Welsh,
> for instance.
Oh, go on then, why Welsh? Isn't it a Celtic language descended, like the
other Celtic languages, from proto-IE?