If you think Sanskrit has the word Saturn in it (as opposed to say a word for Saturn), then no wonder the origin is uncertain. Is it the theology, astronomy, translation, or grammar that went sideways here?
UPDATE: Please see the comments, where I am kindly schooled on my own intellecutal limitations. Also, Rings-Things.com is, in fact, a pretty awesome site in that area.
2 comments:
Hi, Kali,
I'm guessing you're referring to our page http://www.rings-things.com/gemstone/s.htm
First off, as a PhD candidate I gotta point out that we're not running a scholarly website. So we haven't done a ton of research into this etymology. I'm curious where we got it!
Second, as you probably know, the ancient Indo-Europeans of various regions worshiped a pantheon of cognate deities. Thus several deity-names can be reconstructed all the way back to Proto-Indo-European times (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_religion).
Even those whose names can't be reconstructed to a shared origin often are perceived to occupy cognate roles in the pantheon. There's a customary equation of Saturn with Shani/Sani (and Saturday) in Hindu astrology, for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shani
Third, as a linguist, I don't see our website claiming the word "Saturn" is in Sanskrit! It's clearly saying that possibly the English word "sapphire" derives ultimately from the Sanskrit "sanipruja". Odder things have happened in language evolution, e.g. a single Indo-European root gave rise the modern English "nail " and Greek "onyx", despite the lack of surface similarities.
Anyway, thanks for the mention of our website--all publicity is good publicity--and thanks for this opportunity to use my academic training in my day job!
Cheers,
--Dave
at Rings & Things
Dave --
Thanks for taking me to school! It's is always possible that it is I who have gone sideways. And you're welcome. I know what it's like not to use Tower-skilz at a day job. Really, thanks.
-- PRSC
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