Robert C. Melzi 295 GIOVANNI SEMERANO LE ORIGINI DELLA

Robert C. Melzi
295
GIOVANNI SEMERANO
LE ORIGINI DELLA CULTURA EUROPEA:
DIZIONARI ETIMOLOGICI
2 Voll. I/ Dizionario della lingua greca; II/ Dizionario della
lingua latina e di voci moderne
Firenze: Olschki, 1994. 715 pp.
In these two books, comprising Volume 43 of the "Biblioteca
dell'Archivimi Romanicum," the author fulfills the promise made in
1984, when, in Volume 38 of the same series, Le origini della cultura
europea. Rivelazioni della linguistica storica, he had laid down the
theoretical bases for his research. Semerano's strategy includes two
steps; the primary goal is etymological and is explained by the subtitle
of the volumes under review, "Basi semitiche delle lingue indeuropee";
the author intends to give back to the Middle East the recognition of
being the mother of our civilization (xviii). This task is being
accomplished by forsaking "l'insolente verbosità formalizzatrice che
nella così detta nuova linguistica spesso aduggia il senso comune"
(xviii), and attacking structuralism which "non premia la parola, matrice
dinamica, colta storicamente nella sua dimensione evolutiva," and
"ignora la sua ricchezza inesausta," being guilty of having forgotten the
historical tools, in favour of a twisted theory that is oblivious to the past
(xx, xxi). Semerano's secondary step is sociolinguistic, inasmuch as he
attempts to describe the evolution of the world's political centers and
its influence on language history.
We should not take sides in the author's impassioned diatribe
against Lévi-Strauss and Jacobson, but simply note that Semerano has
succeeded, at least in part, in proving his point, that the Middle East is
"l'orizzonte delle origini indeuropee" as illuminated by the "sole del
Vicino Oriente" (xxiii). Semerano goes back 3,000 years to the
civilization of Sargon, the founder of the Akkadian dynasty and to the
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Akkadian language "la più antica e ricca di documentazione" (xxix), via
its two important dialects, Assyrian and Babylonian (xxvii). He is
extremely proud of having been able to unravel etymologies that had
heretofore eluded the most astute researchers. Kai (how), for instance,
is etymologically derived from "Arcadico di Mantinea," ka (as, like; at,
after), Arabic kai, Akkadian ki, Latin et (denoting company,
togetherness); it is traced to Hebrew et, and Akkadian itti (with) (xxx).
For another example, I should like to offer German Sippe (people,
family), which, according to Semerano, is derived from Akkadian sabu,
old Babylonian sabum, with the meaning of "people." The etymology
is attested to by Latin prosapia (family origin).
In the past, Italian razza and French race had been generally
derived by modern etymologists from Old French haraz (breeding of
horses). Semerano seeks its etymology in "Neoassiro" Harsa (breeder
of horses) which in turn finds reference to an older voice, hharsitu in
old Akkadian, a breed of sheep (xxxv). Hundreds of Indic words are
explained by their Semitic etymologies, the most startling revelation
coming in the close identity of "our old gods," whereby Iuv(peter) and
Yahveh are commonly derived (liii).
In addition to the "Introduction" (xiii-lxxvi), there is a
"Bibliographical note" (lxxvii-xciii) that explains the principles under
which the dictionary has been prepared, and a list of the dictionaries
consulted during the preparation. Abbreviations are listed in pp. xcv-vi,
and phonetic evolutions explained in pp. xcvii-ic; Greek etymologies
cover pp. 3 to 327; Latin etymologies go from p. 331 to p. 620. In spite
of the usefulness of the Greek and Latin dictionaries and their
importance in the history of modern languages, the most interesting
part, for the English-speaking user, is the Dizionario etimologico di voci
moderne (621-713), in which hundreds of etymologies of English words
are found. This is not the first attempt made to go back to the Semitic
sources of English; Klein had, in the past, followed this path by
including Semitic origins of English words; and, already in the fifties,
he had lamented that the effectiveness of many etymological dictionaries
was impaired by the fact that their authors were generally not familiar
with the structure of Semitic languages. He had offered his book as "a
preliminary work for the etymological dictionary of the Semitic
languages themselves" (ix). Klein's dictionary contained, however, only
750 entries of Semitic origin, such a small number that it was hardly
noticed. One of its most recent successors, Barnhart's Dictionary of
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Etymology was exclusively concerned with the Indo-European sources
of English, as one may see by comparing a few of its entries with the
same entries, as treated by Semerano.
Selecting at random, we find tongue that Barnhart derives from
tong; developed from Old English tunge organ of speech, speech,
language. Barnhart pursues this word as being cognate with Old Frisian
tunge tongue, Old Saxon tunga, Middle Dutch tonghe (modern Dutch
tong), Old German zunga (modern German Zunge), Old Icelandic tunga
(Swedish tunga, Norwegian and Danish tunge), Gothic tungo- (from
Proto Germanic *tunzo). Barnhart further suggests that cognates are
found in Old Latin *dingua tongue, Latin lingua (altered by influence
of lingere to lick), and Old Irish teng. Going beyond Barnhart's Eurocentric listings, Semerano goes much earlier into time and, after having
suggested all known Indo-European sources (Anglo-Saxon, Old Frisian,
Old German, Gothic, Latin), suggests that English tongue "è sotto
l'influenza semantica di base corrispondente ed accad. ziqqu, zaqiku
(soffio,
alito,
'Wehen,
Hausch,'
'Mundhauch')
incrociatosi
semanticamente con accad. zaqaro, zakuru, sem. dkr, aram dkr
(parlare, 'aussprechen, reden'), zikru (espressione, 'Ausspruch,
Aussage'). Ma *dingua > 'lingua' è certo calcato su 'lingo' lecco accad.
lêku [...] " (699).
As another example, I should like to offer child which Barnhart
finds cognate of Old Swedish kulder, dolder (litter), Danish kuld
(offspring), Gothic kilthei (womb), and Sancrit jathara. Semerano, on
the other hand, after citing the Indo-European cognates, offers
Akkadian qallu, qa-lu (piccolo, "klein," "gerig").
One may find some of Semerano's etymological propositions
somewhat far-fetched, but they are always fascinating, and generally
supported by solid scholarship. At times the author wavers, on the one
hand, between his conviction of the pivotal importance of Europe, and
especially of Italy (xv), in the cultural progress of the modern world
and, on the other, his recognition that the center of the world has shifted
from the Mediterranean to the Pacific (vi). His impassioned cry for a
salvation of Europe in spite of the impotence of its politicians cannot
help but evoke the memories of the struggles now going on in Bosnia
and, even more significantly, in the Middle East. How can we forget
that Aramic was the official language of the Persian Empire, up to and
including the seventh satrapy, extending its influence all the way down
to India? If one looks at the suggested common derivation of the words
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Jupiter and Yahveh, modern "wars of religion" like the one going on
now in Bosnia simply do not make sense.
One may find fault with many of the propositions advanced by
Semerano, and even disagree with him on his political premises, but one
cannot deny that these two books will profoundly influence all future
etymological dictionaries. The volumes are of great interest to the
specialist in linguistics, because many of the etymologies are new and
far-reaching. For the scholar of cultural history, the books open up new
vistas on the connection between political centers and language history.
ROBERT C. MELZI
Widener University,
Chester, Pennsylvania
BOOKS CITED
Barnhart, Robert K. (ed.). The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology. New York:
The H. W. Wilson Co., 1988.
Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English
Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam-London: Elsevier Publishing Co., 1967.
Pokorny, J. Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Bern-München:
Francke, 1959.