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" ETYMOLOGY AND MAGIC: "
Johannes Bronkhorst
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AL
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| Record Number
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1078811
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LA122440
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| Call No
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10.1163/156852701750152645
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| Language of Document
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English
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| Main Entry
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Johannes Bronkhorst
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| Title & Author
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ETYMOLOGY AND MAGIC: [Article] : YĀSKAS NIRUKTA, PLATOS CRATYLUS, AND THE RIDDLE OF SEMANTIC ETYMOLOGIES\ Johannes Bronkhorst
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| Publication Statement
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Leiden: Brill
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| Title of Periodical
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Numen
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| Date
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2001
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| Volume/ Issue Number
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48/2
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| Page No
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147–203
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| Abstract
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"Semantic etymologies are to be distinguished from historical etymologies. A historical etymology presents the origin or early history of a word. Semantic etymologies do something completely different. They connect one word with one or more others which are believed to elucidate its meaning. Semantic etymologies are practically universal in pre-modern cultures, and there are treatises in some cultures - such as Yāska's Nirukta in ancient India, Plato's Cratylus in ancient Greece - that specifically deal with them. This article addresses the question how modern scholarship should try to understand semantic etymologizing. It is argued that, being a universal phenomenon, semantic etymologizing is in need of a universal explanation. Drawing inspiration from certain pre-modern philosophies, it is proposed to study this phenomenon in the light of another category of phenomena that is often called "magical". Semantic etymologies are to be distinguished from historical etymologies. A historical etymology presents the origin or early history of a word. Semantic etymologies do something completely different. They connect one word with one or more others which are believed to elucidate its meaning. Semantic etymologies are practically universal in pre-modern cultures, and there are treatises in some cultures - such as Yāska's Nirukta in ancient India, Plato's Cratylus in ancient Greece - that specifically deal with them. This article addresses the question how modern scholarship should try to understand semantic etymologizing. It is argued that, being a universal phenomenon, semantic etymologizing is in need of a universal explanation. Drawing inspiration from certain pre-modern philosophies, it is proposed to study this phenomenon in the light of another category of phenomena that is often called "magical"."
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10.1163/156852701750152645
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