Author = Kulikov, Leonid
Number of Articles: 1
A Cheetah in a Camphor Tree Grove: Etymological Notes on Indo-Iranian Words for Camphor
Volume 1, No. 1; Special Issue: Nature in Ancient Iranian Arts and Texts; edited by Helen Giunashvili and Mohammad Amin Mirghaderi, November 2023, Pages 1-9
https://doi.org/10.22034/hunara.2023.181445
Leonid Kulikov
Abstract This paper focuses on the etymology of Indo-Iranian words for camphor, particularly on Skt. karpūra-, briefly referring also to Gr. κέρβερος ‘Cerberus’. I argue that this form (of non-Indo-European origin) was modified due to secondary re-etymologization under a group of phonetically similar words with partly similar meanings (‘spotted, dappled’ etc.), some of which may refer to cheetah.