Coming back to this article because Jackson Crawford uploaded a talk he had recently with scholar Caley Smith, who argues (at 31:34 in the video "Ancient Indo-Iranian Civics (with Prof. Caley Smith)") that "Aryan" originally referred to forming a political coalition with other clans from the same society.
He argues that "Aryan" doesn't come from *h₂er-, but, instead, from *h₂el- in the sense of "beyond, other" (not the other definition for the root *h₂el- meaning "to grow, to nourish", which is not relevant here).
Please let me know what you think about this and if his etymology can be sustained. Extremely curious
“Earl” is a reflex of the *h3er root discussed briefly in this article (it remained distinct in Germanic and is likely also the source of the noun *erō, “battle”, so an *er-ilaz is a “war leader”.
“Hero” is slightly more opaque but appears to descend from a roof *ser- meaning “bind, tie” with an extended meaning “capture.” A “hero” is therefore one who captures either riches or slaves in a raid.
Coming back to this article because Jackson Crawford uploaded a talk he had recently with scholar Caley Smith, who argues (at 31:34 in the video "Ancient Indo-Iranian Civics (with Prof. Caley Smith)") that "Aryan" originally referred to forming a political coalition with other clans from the same society.
He argues that "Aryan" doesn't come from *h₂er-, but, instead, from *h₂el- in the sense of "beyond, other" (not the other definition for the root *h₂el- meaning "to grow, to nourish", which is not relevant here).
Please let me know what you think about this and if his etymology can be sustained. Extremely curious
I wonder where the Greek "hero" or the Germanic "Earl/Jarl" are related.
“Earl” is a reflex of the *h3er root discussed briefly in this article (it remained distinct in Germanic and is likely also the source of the noun *erō, “battle”, so an *er-ilaz is a “war leader”.
“Hero” is slightly more opaque but appears to descend from a roof *ser- meaning “bind, tie” with an extended meaning “capture.” A “hero” is therefore one who captures either riches or slaves in a raid.