The article deals with an analysis of some Indo-European words for ‘serpent’ from a linguistic and philological point of view. We offer an overview of the most debated Indo-European roots from which nouns for ‘serpent’ developed, and we hypothesize that the terms derived from roots such *V(n)g wh i-, *serp-, *d̥ ̑ -, etc. are not to be regarded as synonymous units. Rather, they seem to designate different kinds of serpents. Indeed, the great number of words for this animal seems to be due to a taboo mechanism that enriched the terminology referring to the snake. Thanks to this kind of analysis, it appears possible to find numerous parallels between the Indo- European cultural traditions taken here into account.
Snakes, dragons, and hydras: the Indo-European terminology for serpent
Virna Fagiolo;
2024-01-01
Abstract
The article deals with an analysis of some Indo-European words for ‘serpent’ from a linguistic and philological point of view. We offer an overview of the most debated Indo-European roots from which nouns for ‘serpent’ developed, and we hypothesize that the terms derived from roots such *V(n)g wh i-, *serp-, *d̥ ̑ -, etc. are not to be regarded as synonymous units. Rather, they seem to designate different kinds of serpents. Indeed, the great number of words for this animal seems to be due to a taboo mechanism that enriched the terminology referring to the snake. Thanks to this kind of analysis, it appears possible to find numerous parallels between the Indo- European cultural traditions taken here into account.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
