Full citation – Référence complète:
Čašule, I. “Varia Etymologica: Phrygian Etymologies”. Živa Antika / Antiquité Vivante 74.1-2 (2024), pp. 27–34.

DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.47054/ZIVA24741-2027ch

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Abstract. – The first etymological note should be seen in conjunction with our extensive elaboration of the close correlation of Burushaski (Brugaski) and Phrygian (see Čašule 2004, 2014, 2016). We compare and analyse the direct correspondence (both phonemically, morphologically and semantically between the Burushaski verb nias ‘to go, to lead’ and the Phrygian word (epithet for the deceased) attested in a funerary inscription as *nijos ‘~to lead’. We suggest further that the IE root *ni- suffixed with *-ko yields forms like Ancient Greek nikos ‘victor’ (represented in names) which do not have an accepted etymological interpretation but for which the Burushaski language may offer an explanation, as it has a very productive set of forms like nik manas, nok manas with a range of meanings like ‘tread carefully; recoil, jerk back’,’pull back and extend’ also ‘huddle together, cower’ which may point to a Phrygian origin of the Ancient Greek forms.
Furthermore, we propose a new etymology for the ethnonym Graikos ‘Greek’. It demonstrates that it is an old form, most probably an exonym, i.e. that it originates from a denomination given by neighbouring ethnoses which was widely affirmed by the Romans and the West. We give an overview of previous etymological explanations, and conclude, based on Brygian (Phrygian) evidence that it may derive from PIE *g’her- ‘short, little; child’, noting that the shift from ‘child’ to the name of a people is a rather common one in today’s languages.
Finally, we revisit the etymology of the oronym Carpathian which has been noted in Greek sources as Karpathos ‘Oros and considered of Thracian provenance; we suggest that the Burushaski (Brugaski) language can offer a more precise insight and etymology which implies Phrygian as the source of the name of the mountain.