Transforming Traditions :

Studies in Archaeolosy, ComparativeLinguistics and Naruative

Maxim Fomi n, Y 6clav Blażekand Piotr Stalm aszczyk

(editors)

Studia Celto-slavica 6

'E

ili:'t,

CoNrpNrs

lntroductionMaxim Fomin, Vóclav Blaźek & Piotr Stalmaszczyk

Part l: Proceedings

Presidential Address: Bohemia, heland and Pan-Celticism 11

Sćamus Mac Mathńna

on Speciftc Zoological Isoglosses bętween Celticand (Balto-)SlavicVóclav Blaźek

A Celtic Gloss in the Hesychian LexiconKrzysztof Tomasz Witczak

Daughter - Maiden - Maidservant: Dynamics of Semantic 39Shift from Continental Celtic to lnsular Celtic VocabularyTaQana A. Mikhailova

Cleft as a Marker of a Thetic Sentence: Evidence from Irish 51

and RussianMaria Shkapa

The Breton Verb endevout and the French avoir: The Influence 65of Descriptive Grammars on Modern Breton Verbal SystemAnna Muradova

The Figurative Dimension of Welsh Nicknamingin the Light of the Great Chain of BeingKat arzyn a J ędrz ej ew s ka- Py s z c z ak

A Welsh Award-Winning Novel on Russia:Petrogradby Wiliam Owen RobertsElena Parina

Supernatural Beings and 'Song and Dance':Celtic and Slavic ExemplarsDean Miller

n

31

75

9I

101

Fir Flathemon in the Russian Primary Chronicle? 1 13The Legend of the Summoning of the Varangiansand the Prefatory Matter to Audącht MorainnDmitry Nikolayev

Part 2: Invited Papers

Fintan mac Bóchraj Irish Synthetic History Revisited I29Grigory Bondarenko

Migration through Gaelic and Russian Proverbs I49Maria Koroleva

Cęltic Military Equipment from the Territory of Ukraine: I71Towards a New {arrior Identity in the Pre-RomanEastern EuropeGennadiy Kazakevich

A Cprrtc Gross IN THE HnsycHrłN LExICoN

Knzyszror To u.ąsz Wlrcz'ąr

0. lntroductionThe węll known lexicon, prepared by Hesychios of Alexandria (c. 400-

500 AD), contains a number of glosses recorded not only on the basis ofvarious dialects of the ancient Greek, but also on the basis of variouslanguages of ancient Europe, Asia and Africa. There are also glosses

which have been defined aS "Celtic'', e.g. crBpóvcrg, 'A6prcrvot,

Bcrpcrrurcx,r, K"Dpttcrg, pcr6opetq (Schmidt 1861: 159), or as "Galatian",

e.g. Bcrp6oi, óvtpttov, rcxpvov, }'etoóopcx,Tct, }"eóy",1 (Schmidt 1861:

157).However, most Hesychian glosses appear with no ethnic

designation. Some of them can be convincingly treated as Celtic(especially Galatian) terms. There is also such instance, which is

connected with the following gloss:

pcrtuv.11 },óyĘ. ćvtot 6'e potcrroq li pcrtcrł<óv (Latte t966: 633, sl"-

3e1).mótan [means] a she-lynx. Some [call lynxf matakos or matakón

The heading p&tcrv is actually defined as 'a female lyn'' (Gk. ń IÓyĘ)'i.e. a short-tailed wild animal of the Felidae family, noted for its keen

sight (Hornby 1981: 509). Also two alternative forms pcrtcrrcóq

(originally 'a male lynx') and pcrtcrł<óv (probably 'a small or young

lyo*'), which belong undoubtedly to the same idiom, are given byHesychios of Alexandria.

1. Celtic evidence.Three Hesychian names for 'lynx' seem to possess exact and convincingequivalents only in the Celtic insular languages.1.1. Celtic *mat-'a kind of predator'(1. lynx, 2.bear,3. fox,4. dog),*matiikósm. id. (1.lynx,3. fox).1.1.1. Continental Celtic pcrtcrv' [acc. Sg.f.] n rÓyĘ.óvtot 6'e pcrtcrrcog Ąpotoróv. Furthęr Continental Celtic cognates are extręmely uncertain:Ctb. matu-'abeaf (?) appears in the first Botorrita inscription (v. 6): tirismatus tinatuz (translated as 'drei Bźiren sollen saugen' by Schmidt I976a:365; 19]6b:57; Toporov 1986 Ż19 accepts such interpretation).

KRZYSZTOF TOMASZ WITCZAK

I.1.2. OIr. math (9"n. sg. matho) m. (z-stem) 'a bear' (< Celt. Goid.*matu-); Scottish Gaelic mathan, mathon m. 'a bear' (. Celt. Goid. *mat-

agnos) (Forbes 1905: 66; Owen 1993:78), also Sc. Gael. mathghamhuin'abear' (Forbes 1905: 66), E'arly Ir. mathgąman id. (Macbain 1998.244);1.1.3. OW. madawg,W. madog m. 'a fox'(< Celt. Britt. *matakos); W.madyn m. 'a fox', maden f. 'a small she-fox, a vixen' (< Celt. Britt.*matinos m. vs. *matina f.) (Holder 1904 119621: II 479; Evans I9l9:IŻĄ|.I.4.Ir. matad'a dog' (Polomó 1998: 669); Sc. Gael. madadh m. 'a dog',esp. mastiff, madadh-allaidh'a wolf (lit. 'a wild dog'), madadh-ruadh m.'a fox' (lit. 'a red-haired dog') (Forbes 1905: 160). The relation of the lastgroup (l.1.4) is uncertain. Some linguists derive it from thę Indo-European root *masd- (so Macbain 1998: 238) and not from *mat-.

l.2. The animal namę in question was highly popular in the Celticlanguages, as can be seen from the following personal names (PNs):

Gaulish PN Matacus : Old Brittonic PN Matucus, Old Welsh PNMatauc, Matoc, Breton PN Matoc, later Matec (< CC. *Matakos), seeHolder (1904 119621: II45l ,480).

Gaulish PN MatinL.łS m.) Matina f. (< CC. *Matinos ffi., -d f., cf.W. madyn m. 'a fox', maden f. 'a small female fox, a vixen'), cf. Holder(1e04 lle62l: II 460).

Gaulish, Old Brittonic PN Matugenus m., Hispano-Celtic PNMatugenus, Matucenus, Old Irish PN Mathgen, Old Welsh PN Madyein(< CC. *Matu-genos,ht.'a son of bear'), cf. Holder (1904 LL962l: II 480-481), Evans (1979:124) andVallejo Ruiz (2005: 350-354).

old Węlsh PN Matgueith (< CC. * Matu-vektos) , see Holder ( 1 904|196Ż].II479).1.3. Comments: ośtir (1930: 73) treated the Hesychian names for 'lynx''pd,tcr (f.)' potcrroq (m.), putcrróv (n.)' as native in Greek. He did notconnect them with the Celtic names. Also, Celtic scholars (cf. Holder1904 [1962]: II 479;' Evans 1919: I24) gle no reference to the Hesychiangloss.

2. Ethnic designationThe Celtic origin of the Hesychian gloss SęemS to be relatively certain forthree reasons.

Firstly, none of non-Celtic Indo-European languages know ananimal term which derives from *mat-. This root is limited only to theCeltic language world.

Secondly, the archetype *matakos appears both in the Brittoniccommon names (see OW. madawg, W. madog m. 'a fox') and theCommon Celtic proper names (cf. Gaulish PN Matacus : OBritt. PN

32

A CELTIC GLOSS IN THE HESYCHIAN LEXICON

Matucus, OW. PN Matauc, Matoc, Bret. PN Matoc, Matec). The same

item is, with no doubt, reflected in the Hesychian gloss in question(pcrtcrrcóg fi pcrtorov).

Thirdly, the Hesychian forms pcrtcrróg (m.) and pcrtcrróv (n.), as

well as old Welsh madawg, Welsh madog m. 'a fox', węre formed bymeans of the identical suffix *-ako-. The Celtic origin of the gloss istherefore confirmed by its word-formation structure.

The Gaulish personal namę Matacus Seems to demonstrate the

existence of the proper term *matakos denoting '11mx' (o. a similaranimal) in Continental Celtic (as suggested by the Hesychian gloss inquestion). Also, the related proper names of Celtic origin, attested in Gauland Celtiberia (e.g. Gaulish PN Matinus, Hispanic Celtic Matugenus),confirm the correctness of the Hesychian gloss in question.

3. Semantic questionsThe insular Celtic languages demonstrate three various meanings: 'abeaf , 'a fox' and'a dog'. The semantics of the Hesychian gloss ('lyn^')is completely different. However, the semantic aspects can be easilyexplained by the well known fact that lynx was (and is) absent in the

British Islands. Mallory and Adams (1997: 360) stress that "the lynx wasdied out in the British Isles quite early in the prehistoric period, the mostrecent find being only of Mesolithic date". In this situation the originalterm for 'lynx' , abtg and strong predator, might be easily transferred onto'abear'(inthe Goidelic dialects) or'a fox'(inthe Brittonic dialects). Aslynx inhabits thę Continental Europęan aręa (beginning from the IberianPeninsula in the westl) as well as the Asia Minor, the Common Celticterm for 'lynx' (which I identify with the root *mat-) should be preservedin the Continental Celtic languages such as Galatian, Gaulish orCeltiberian. If the Hesychian gloss indicates the meaning of 'lynx', thenthere is a justif,rable reason to think that the Common Celtic root *mat-

meant originally nothing other than 'lynx'. All the meanings attested inthe Insular Celtic languages ('bear'; 'fox'; 'dog, mastiff) must be treated

as secondary.

4. EtymologyVendryes (1959: M-24) connects OIr. math m. (z-stem) 'ours' ('a bear')with the Celtic adjective *mati- (i-stem) 'bon' favorable' ('good,favourable') (cf. Ok. maith adj. 'bon, excellent, avantageux' ('good,excellent'), n. 'le bien, t'avantage' ('good, fortune') (Vendryes 1959: M-12).

I The Iberian Peninsula is the homeland of Spanish lynx or Iberian lynx or Pardel lynx(Lynx pardina), slightly smaller and more heavily spotted than the Northęrn lynx (Burton1984: I41-I42; Arnold, Corbet, Ovenden 1989: 53; Dobroluka 1998: 96). It is generallytreated as a local species.

aaJJ

KRZYSZTOF TOMASZ WITCZAK

He suggests that "l'ours aurait ótó dćsignę par une ópithdte flatteuse,comme cela se produit pour d'autres animaux de l'ćpoque próhistorique''.The original IE namę for 'brown bear', PIE *h2ftkos (o-stem), is preservedas *artos'bear' in Common Celtic (cf. OIr. arth m.'a bear'). The removalof the original term *artos was probably caused by a taboo. According toMallory, Adams (1997: 55), the same process may be observed in theGermanic (Ettg. bear, Germ. Bcir ortg. 'brown animal'), Slavic (Russ.medved',Pol. niednłiedz ortg. 'honey-eater') and Baltic languages (Lith.loĘs,Latv. lócis, oPruss. clokis orig. 'shaggy animal').

Toporov (1986: 220) compares Celtiberian matu- (with thealleged meaning 'bear') with Latv. mats (pl. mati) 'hair',, matains adj.'hairy, covered with hair', mati7tś 'a single hair', Russ. mot' 'npx4rBoroc' ('lock of hair'). The Latvian word for 'hair' seems to be related toToch. B matsi'Haupthaar' ('(human) head hair'). Thus, 'ahatry (shaggy)animal' appears to be a taboo word for 'bear'.

The internal Celtic etymology, proposed by Vendryes, seemsmore acceptable than Toporov's explanation. What is more, Toporov'scomparison prefers the original semantics of 'bear' (o., perhaps, of 'fox')and excludes the original meaning of 'lynx' (the Eurasian lynx has arelatively short, reddish or brown coat, especially during the summer). Itis quite appropriate that lynx might havę been once called 'a good,favourable one', itself being a wild animal that avoids people.

It cannot be excluded that the Common Celtic term for 'lynx'(CC. *matakos and so on) was originally motivated by the substrate(perhaps Celtic) verbal root *mat- 'to ki11', cf. Port. Sp. matar 'to kill,hurt, harm, wound' (Corominas, Pascual 2000: 878-881; Meyer-Ltibke1935: 442-443) and Gaulish matara, mataris f. 'a Celtic javelin or pike'(Billy 1993: 104). In fact, lynx as a big carnivorous predator, which huntshares, rodents and birds,ffidy be called 'a killer'.

5. Galatian influence (?)Though the ancient Greeks were well acquainted with the Gauls and theCeltiberians, they also had somewhat intensive contacts with theGalatians. There are at least ten Celtic glosses in the Hesychian lexiconand five of them (i.e. 50%) are defined as "Galatian". Also, the remainingHesychian glosses of Celtic ońgin may directly derive from a Galatiansource.

There is also the following case connected with the gloss below:

p"urtę'p'źycrq. nvĘ ćni toO Bcror}"óroq(Schmidt 1 861 : 7 6, p.-404; Latte 1966: 633 , 1t -402)

matis fmeans] 'great' (strong, mighty). Some fsay so] about theking.

34

KRZYSZTOF TOMASZ WITCZAK

References

Arnold, N., Corbet, G., Ovenden,D., 1989, A Handbook to the WildAnimals of Britain and Europe, London: Treasure Press.Billy, P.-H., 1993, Thesaurus Linguae Gallicae, Hildesheim-New York:Olms-Weidmann.Burton, M., 1984, Guide to the Mammals of Britain and Europe, London:Treasure Press.Corominas, J., Pascual, J. A., 2000, Diccionario critico etimólogicocąstellano e hispónico, vol. 3 (G-MA), Madrid: Gredos.I)obroruka, L. J., 1998, Mammals, Prague: Bhtz Editions.Evans, D. E., 1919,'On the Celticity of Some Hispanic Personal Names',in: A. Tovar, M. Faust, F. Fischer & M. Koch' eds., Actas del II Coloquiosobre lenguas y culturas prerromctnas de la Peninsula Iberica (Tiibingen,17-19 Junio 1976), Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca,lr7-129.Forbes, A. R., 1905, Gaelic Names of Beasts (Mammalia), Birds, Fishes,Insects, Reptiles, Etc., Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.Giiterbock, H. G., Hoffner, H. A.' 1980, The Hittite Dictionary of theoriental Institute of the UniversiĘ of Chicago, vol. 1, fasc. 1, Chicago:The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.Holder, A., 1904 LI962l, Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz, Zwette.ł Band (I-T).Leipzig Teubner. Reprinted in 1962 tn Graz; Akademische Druck u.Verlagsanstalt.Hornby, A. S., 1981 , Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of CurrentEnglish, vol. 2 (L-Z), oxford-Watszawa. oxford Univęrsity Press, PWN- Polish Scientific Publishers.Kloekhorst, A., 2008, Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite InheritedLexicon, Leiden - Boston: Brill.Latte, K., ed., 1966, Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon,vol.2 (E-O), Hauniae:Ejnar Munksgaard.Macbain, A., 1998, Etymological Dictionary of Scottish-Gaelic, NewYork: Hippocrene Books.Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., 1991, Encyclopedia of Indo-EuropeanCu I t ur e, London and Chic ago : F ttzroy Dearborn Publishers.Matasović, R., 2009, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leidęn -Boston: Brill.Meyer-Liibke, W., 1935, Romanisches eĘmologisches Wórterbuch,Heidelber g: CarI Winter.ośtir, K., 1930, Drei vorslavisch-etruskische Vogelnamen (astrębu ::

cipcrroq, lunja :'. vel, kanja'.: capys), Ljubljana. Znansfuleno Druśtvo.

36

A CELTIC GLOSS IN THE HESYCHIAN LEXICON

Owen, R. C., 1993, The Modern Gaelic-English Dictionary (Am Faclairur Gąidhlig-Beurla), Glasgow: Gairm Publications.Polomó, E. C., 1,998, 'Some Reflections on lndo-European AnimalNames', in: P. Anreiter, L. Bartosiewicz, E. Jerem & W. Meid, Man andthe Animal World. Studies in Archaeozoologł, Archaeology, Anthropologyand Palaeolinguistics in memoriam Sóndor BókÓnyi, Budapest:Archaeolingua, 669 -61 4.

Puhvel, J., 200I, Hittite Etymological Dictionary, vol. 5 (Wordsbeginning with L), Berlin - New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Schmidt, K. H., I9l6a, 'Historisch-vergleichende Analyse des derkeltiberischen tnschrift von Botorrita zu Grunde liegendenMorpheminventars', in: A. Morpurgo Davies & W. Meid, Studies inGreek,Italic and Indo-European Linguistics offered to Leonard R. PalmerOn the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday, Innsbruck: Institut fiirSprachwissenschaft der Universitźit lnnsbru ck, 3 59 -3] I .

Schmidt, K. H., I976b, 'Der Beitrag der keltiberischen Inschrift vonBotorrita zur Rekonstruktion der protokeltischen Syntax', Word 28(1'-2),

r976,5r-62.Schmidt, M., ed., 1861 , Hesychii Alexandrini lexicon, voI. III (A-P),Ienae: Sumptibus Frederici Maukii.Schrijver, P., 1995, Studies in British Celtic Historical Phonology,Amsterdam - Atlanta: Rodopi.Toporov, V. N., 1986, 'Kel'tibyerskaya nadpis' iz Bottority v svyetebalto-slavyanskogo sravnyeniya' [The Celtiberian Inscription fromBotorrita in the light of the Balto-Slavic comparison], Balto-slavyanskiyeissledovaniya 1984 fBalto-Slavic Studies 1984] ,209-224.Vallejo Ruiz, J. M.,2005,, Antroponimia ind{gena de la Lusitaniaromana, Vitoria-Gastetz: Servicio Editorial dę la Universidad dęl PaisVasco.Vendryes, J., 1959, Lexique eQmologique de I'irlandais ancien, vol. 2(M-P), Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Paris: CentreNational de la Recherche Scientifique.

37