POLAND . The Unofficial Guide.	Unanswered \| Archives
POLAND . The Unofficial Guide.	Poland Tips and Ideas	Witamy, Guest \| PF Members \| Gold Members

Polish Forums / Grammar, Usage /

Etymologia łuny

♂

Jan 17, 10, 17:06 #1

I wondered if any of you knows the ethymology of the word łuna, meaning "glow" (= blask/poświata). Il also the Polish traslation for the Russian space probes of the "Luna" series.
I was wondering if łuna is a slavic word cognate with Latin luna or if there's a more direct link between the two. I had a look here http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:List_of_Proto-Indo-European_nou ns but I couldn'd find anything relevant about the root "luna"

♀

Edited by: Ania86 Jan 17, 10, 17:18 #2

"łuna, 'blask', »łuna księżycowa*
1537 r., »łuna od pożaru«; pra-
słowo; przed n wypadło ch z ks,
prus. lauksnos, 'gwiazdy', staro-
baktr. raoksnd, 'światło', łac. luna
(w narzeczach losna), 'księżyc', grec,
z inną samogłoską, lychnos,
'światło'. Od 14. do 16. wieku, od
psałterza flor. do Paprockiego, znacho-
dzimy łunę, lunę łacińską, 'księżyc*
(jest i w cerk. i na Rusi), ale to
pożyczka półuczona, nie ludowe,
chociaż i na Bałkanie do dziś się
szerzy. Pokrewne więc z łuczywem,
łac. lux, luceo, 'świecę', lucerna, itd."

That's my Etymological Dictionary of Polish.

And what I've found in another one. It all comes from the PIE root - LEUK-, meaning light. English 'light' is of course a derivative. Funny that "lucipher" is one as well :)

More precisely, 'luna' comes from *leuk-sna. In the fragment I've quoted, it's said that 'ks' was deleted and only 'n' remained.

Is etymology so exciting or am I crazy? ;)

♂

Jan 17, 10, 17:45 #3

Thanks a lot Ania! Very prompt answer! Only, I have some problems with the meaning of some of the text, it's a bit cryptic to me... These things are clear:

prus.=Prussian language
staro-baktr.=old Bactrian language
łac.=Latin language
grec=Greek language
psałterz= the Book of Psalms (bible), salter
Bartosz Paprocki (1543-1614)=Polish writer

What do "w narzeczach losna" and "przed n wypadło ch z ks" mean...?

Anyway the answer seems to be yes, Polish łuna and Latin luna are cognates. In fact, as you mentioned, Latin luna comes from the same root of lux (light) , so in this sense Polish łuna seems very close to the most ancient meaning.

♀

Jan 17, 10, 18:05 #4

no problem! I was happy to help, and it was interesting as well.

The problem about this dictionary is that it was written long time ago and the Polish is so funny in here, sometimes it's really hard to understand!

I had to check "w narzeczach losna" myself! "narzecze" apparently means a dialect. So it was a variant in Latin - 'losna'. (I think)

About the other fragment - it's what I've already written - before [n], [ch] was deleted. As [ks] was in the original 'leuk-sna' it was probably like this: [ks]>[ch]> 0 and only [n] remained in the Latin form.

In the Greek form it's lychnos, where [ch] is present.

:)

LorencThreads: 6 Posts: 30 Joined: May 13, 08 ♂	Jan 17, 10, 21:58 #5
Thank you Ania :-) What dictionary is it you are using? I also found out what "Losna" probably is... apparently it was the Moon godness in Etruscan mythology (is this dictionary made for cryptic crosswords aficionados?!) The next question that springs to mind is if the word "luna" used in other slavic languages (Russian, etc) is cognate with łuna or a late Latin import...

Ania86Threads: - Posts: 4 Joined: Jan 17, 10 ♀	Jan 17, 10, 23:23 #6
well, the fragment from the dictionary says it is a borrowing. The second half is very confusing, but still, that's what it says. is this dictionary made for cryptic crosswords aficionados?! I try to refrain from saying anything bad about this dictionary, because it's the only one I've managed to find :D

gumishuThreads: 13 Posts: 3,626 Joined: Apr 6, 09 ♂	Edited by: gumishu Jan 18, 10, 18:57 #7
Lorenc I don't think it is a cognate - it's rather a borrowing maybe through other Slavic language - I don't think *leuksna will give luna and łuna in Proto-Slavic and then Polish - still I am not a linguist (not a professional one or educated one) - so take my word with some caution - (I am just an etymology freak ;)

Home / Grammar, Usage /

Unanswered [this forum] | Similar

Reply re: Etymologia łuny

If you're reading this, you are probably not a registered user yet and cannot access all forums and features!

- Before creating a new thread, make sure to follow the Thread Title Creation Rules.
- Your message must comply with the General Forum Rules.
- If you have further questions, check the Forum FAQ & Feedback section.

To post anonymously, please enter a temporary and unique username (without password) or login and post as a member.

Username: Password:

re: Etymologia łuny

Posting Guidelines:

- Stay on topic. If your post is not related to this thread, create a new thread or post in the Off-topic forum.
- Use the Search and Similar Threads features to avoid duplicating threads.
- Do not insult or harass others, play nicely!
- Do not personally attack others to avoid temporary or permanent suspension.

Declension of town names in prepositional phrases

popełnić (extended usage)?

Random: Joint Venture Business proposal (cleaning unit, India)

Home \| Unanswered \| Archives \| Random \| Statistics	Time in Poland: 14:02 / Feb 8
About Us \| Contact Us \| Rules, Privacy \| Poland Advertising	© 2005-12 PolishForums.com