ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES DE BULGARIE

r-TNGUISTIQUE BALKANIQUE XLIV (2005), 3

K rz.y s ztof To ma s z' W IT CZA K ( d)

THB DACIAN NAME FOR 'NETTLE'

The Dacian language belongs to the so called Re s t s prac h en, which are
attested by a number of inscriptional texts, as well as by glosses zrnd onomastics.
Oll the basis of this lirnited material linguists try to solve the mystery of Dacian.
Unfortunzrtely, the results are rather modest and uncertain. One short three-words
inscription in Dacian (DECEBALUS PER SCORILO 'Decebalus, son of Scorilus')
helps us little or nothing to understand the position of the Dacian language rvithin
the Indo-European family. The Dacian onomastical material, which should be
necessarily distinguislred from the data of the neighbotrring Paaeo-Balkan
languages (e.g. ex. Pannonian, Moesian, Getic, Thracian. Bessan, Illyrian,
Liburnian, Istrian, Dardanian, Paeonian, Macedonian, Epirotic) or of some
introducing languages (e.g. of Celtic or Iranian origin), remains hardly
interpretable. What is more, the Dacian vocabulary, reconstructed on the basis of
proper names, cannot be established with certainty, because the interpretation of
most onomastical data is usually impossible to control from the semantic point of
view. Thus the most valuable evidence for the Dacian speech is limited to glosses
which refer to the sphere of the Dacian botanics. We know about 50 Dacian nalnes
of plants, mentioned in the works of Dioscurides (lst c. A.D.) and Pseudo-
Apuleius. These glosses were gathered by an anonymous person some years after
the conquest of Dacia by the Roman emperor Traianus.
In my paper I would like to discuss the Dacian name for'nettle' in order to
establish its original form, irs well as its etymology. The continuation of the
guttural stops in Dacian will be also reviewed and anew explained.

1. Attestation
The Dacian term for 'nettle' is registered as a gloss in the medical work of
Dioscurids Pedanius (De nlateria medic IV: 93, edited by Wellmann 1958:
251): rcv{qr1 ii r<r'i61 'oi 6e arcu}'q1, oi 5e a6irci, 'PcrtpLuioroptiru, Aiyntrot
oe}"eryro, Aarcor tlv (6rrc M). It is unclear wlretlrer the l e c t i o 6v, preferred by
Wellmann, is correct or not. Georgiev (1964: B-9) believes that these two
scribal variants i\uv and 6rrc should be treated as two different Daciarr names for
-1-t4 K r :.t's z.r o f T ot n rL s r. W IT CZA K

'nettle'.NeroZnak (1987: 58) sa1's as follows: ,.IIn.nlercx irn 6rrc roltercr\'pol:t.

caNtocToflTellHbll\{ Ha3Ba|IueN'', onpeAenHTb 'lpyAHo"' His r,ords can hal'dl1'
AI|| )Ke
be acceptecl for a number of reasons. Firstly, the lnanuscipts of Dioscttrides' work
ref'er evidelttly to only oue Dacian name fbr'nettle'. Secondly. the nlternative
fortns 6r, and 6rr appear itr ditferent lnanuscripts, llevef in tlre sirnle ccldex. What
is more, no expected words oi 6s appear after between 6r' and 6rrc. That is why
lve cannot agree with Georgiev's suggestion that two Dacian terms for'nettle' are
in Dioscurides'work. In this situation it is necessary to
registered as glosses
establishthecorrectDaciiinfbrm'Inmyopirrion,thelectio difficilior 8Ll<
or 6txv, thouglr registered in a singular manuscript, should be pref'erred. The form
6v could be easily created from 5tlcv by a scribal shortening of otle syllable. The
developrnetlt o{' 6ucl, to 6v is collvillcing fronl tlre paleographic point of, vier,.
On the other hand, the opposite development seems doubtftrl.

2. Explanations suggestcd so far

The traditionzrl etynrology, suggested for the first time by L e o ( l8-54:
192)' treats the attested tbrm 6v as a perf'ect participle ending with -llo- (cf. Skt.
c{ilntt-'blrnt'), derived from tlre Indo-Etlropern root 'ckttt- - *clLt-'to burn'. cf.
Olncl. clanli'to bllrn, corlslllre with fire, cause intemal heat, pain or son'ow.
alTlict, distress'(< IE. 'ktlu-tteu-ti), duyttc'to be burnt, to be cotrsumed rvitlr
internal heiit or sorrow', Greek 6uiot'to light up, mttke to burn, kindle'. This
etymology WtlS accepted by Tomaschek (l97_5: ll = 1894: 3l) and
KretscIlller (l896: 1, fn.2), who saw here tlle root *df- rvith a long
vocalism. Other linguists pret-er to derive it from the present partlciple neuter 'trlu-
nt- (reopf raes 1960: 90. 1917: l95' yPn4aHos l916:1l6. Georgiev
198l: l2. 1983 ll80). In lris works Georgiev (1960: 90' 1977: l95, l98l:
122) stresses correctly that the nettle plant is called'burning' in rnany languitges,
cfl. Latin ut'ticct'nettle' < ilro'to burn (up)', also 'to sting, pain, make angry',
Gerrnan BrerurcsseL'nettle' < bretutan'to burn. scorch', Pol" zegav,ko f. 'a kind ol
rlettle' UrtictL trrens', Russ. ;lcey.tarl KpclnLrB(L 'stirrgin-e nettle'. dtall. lcj,,txtt.
)tCtl?Ct.,IKu f. 'id.' <P<>l. cgac 'to burn', Russ..llce.yvz.rz7'bttrning'. See also SC. dial.
puriika'a kirrd of nettle' < ptiriti'to bLlrn, scorclr' (J e z o w a l97_5: l07).
D e r s c h e w ( 1957: -548) rejects the traclitional etyrnology on the basls of a
ctoubtful assumption that the Dacian language, as well as Thraciiut. belonged to
these Indo-ELrropean languages which changed the voiced stops (mediae) to tlte
voiceless ones (te11 ues ). He derives the 1orrn 6v fionl IE. *dhau- - '|'clltu-'ln
heftige, wirbelnde Bewegung versetzell' (cf. olnd. dhtlnti'to slrake, agitate, cause
to trenlble; to shake or move violently'), not explailling the setnatrtical aspects of
this etymology. Thus Detschew's explanation (in opposition to the traditional
etyllology.) Seems hardly acceptable.
 TltL! DACIAN NAI/F: FOR'NETTLE' 33_5

According to G e o r g i e v (1964: 8-9), the Dacian form 6u is a diflerent

I]alne fof 'nettle'' He derives it frorn IE'''|'tlhcgh" -rl- by an intermedilite form'|'cleg
'burning, ltot', c1'. Alb. rljeg'to burn' (cf. orel l998: B). Lith. tle,qil'to burn',
olnd. dtihtl'id'' (< IF'.'I'rlheg,h"-). The noun 5trc is explained by hinl zrs ii Ileuter
fornr ol an 11-steln acljective (cf. e.g' OInd',sl,c1cl- itdj. 'sweet, delicate, agreeable,
charnritrg', Gk' lj6q adj. 'sweet. plezrsant, lvell-pleased, glad'). Ne ro zlr ak
(1978: -58) seems to irccept Georgiev's explanntion.
' The etyllologies suggested so far (except Detsclrew's) are general15l
acceptable. Horvever. scltolars treat the Daciiul plant name in c1tlestiol its ltlr
innovative fbrm, not perceiving exact cognates in other Indo-Europezrn languages.

3. Trvo Balkan namcs for 'nettlc'

The dilernma concertritlg the Dacian llame f'or'llettle'nay be solved olr tlie
basis o[' two terlrls fbr 'nettle'. attested itl t'u,o Modern Balkan languages:
Rol-tlanian ttrzicd 1'. 'nettle' and Serbo-Croatiatl (dial.) pariika'a kind of ncttle'.
Both these rlls developed under an influcnce of the Palaeo-Balkirn vocabulary.
te
The Balkan iomance name fbr 'nettlt: ', 'kttrc]icct (attestecl ill Romitniiur
3. l .
trzict't I'. 'icl.'' Arounlallian urdzicti, Me_{leniall urdz|cii' Istro-Romalittl'l urzik)'
correspollds evidently to Latin ttrtict. 'nettIe', Spallislr ortigct. Gallego 0rteg(l etc.
(PLrgcariu l905 l1' Meyer-Ltibke l93_5: 757. No.9090)' but it contairrs
iln Llnexpectecl phonetne -:'-/-dz- (< 'o-rl-). Il my opinion. tlre Balkatr Rolnllnce tern-l
in question originates f}om the contarnination of the Latin appellative for 'nettle'
irncl a srtbstratal Palaeo-Ba]kaIl lrame, rvlricl }ppears to be attested irl the Daciall
. ,l
Sl()S\ ()lKl)V '.',.
tll'tlClt
3.2. SC. dial. 1lctriikct 'a kinc-l of nettle' is probably col-tnected lvith the vert'l
pdriti 'to burll, scorclr'' Jorva (l975: l07) comments on this Serbo-Croatiart
term in the followillg wlt)/: ,,Chyba od cziis. piiriri.'parzy. oparzy', ale rv takitn
razie trzeba by przyj -ika 1ako fortllirllt" [Perha1is frolrr the verb pziriti'to burtl,
scorclr'. br'lt irl tlris casc ir is necessltl}' to treat -ilcct zts a formantl. Irr fact, tlre
Ser'bo-Croatiatr terllr in qttestion st:elrls l hybrid tornl. denoting'stinging nettle',
lvhich contaitrs Slavic pttri-'burrlin_9" scorchillg'accollll]aniecl by -lttllclear
eIenlent -"ilrl' representing probabl1,it substratal (perhaps Illyrian) rcrm *diki f .

'ltettle' (= Gk' cx6iq: see also Dac' tr').

Both these cises sllggest that the Dacian tern] for'nettle' lvas pronouncecl
[diki,n] or the like. and not [dyn].

4. Thc f)acian name for 'nettle' in the Indo-European perspective

The ancient composer ol the botarric glosses tnentiotrs t\'Vo llllr-les, whiclr
seetlr to be relatecl to eaclr otlter: Dacian <\tr (r,) 'nettle, Ur'tica dioic;l' cannot be
clissociated fl'orn Greek a6ficq f.'id.'. The main part of the Dacian pliult name ir.l
citrestion. nzurely [dik-1. is repeated in Grec'k. The initial vowei u- in the Greek
33 [( y'it 5 t tot' 7'o nasz W IT CZA
t K

plant name may be one of the so called ,,prothetic vowels", which are preserved it.l
most southern Palaeo-Balkan languages: Greek, Macedonian, Epirotic, Bessan,
Phrygian, Arnrenian and perhaps Pelasgian (cf. W ttczak 1993). This phoneme is
Iost iu the northem Palaeo-Balkan languages and other indo-European lan_euages
except the Anatolian subgroup (W i t c zak 1995a), for. ex.
4'l. Dac. opcr [sva] 'elder-tree, Sambucus nigra' < PIE. *a21ip6va
'Sirnrbuctts nigrir' (W ltczak 199: 06-01), cf. Gk. qrcta'' Att. urtfl f. 'elder-
tree. Sambucus nigra', Arm. ltnc:'i'ash-tree', Bessan cxo& f.'colt's foot. Tussiiago
farfara'. AIb. she f. 'Ilex aequifblium; Tussilago farfara' vs. Yatvingian ,sjale
fserve] 'Sarnbucus' (.g1. 'bez'). Lith. seTtt-tneclis 'elder-tree, Sambucus nigra' (cf.
Lith. ntetlis m.'tree' ).
4'. Awest. Sp(lrEct- 'prong, shoot, sprout', Wakhi spraf 'flower'
(Cre6I14H-KanerIcKH n fq9g:3l5), Khowar i,spru 'id.', Skt. sphurja- m''the
plant Diospyros embryopteris', Lith. spurgur rn. 'shoot, sprout, bud, fridge'< PIE.
'i'e2sprHgos m. 'Sprout', cf. Gk. aorupuyog, Attic aorppo,Toq m. 'yottllg shoot',
also 'stone sperage, Asparagus acutifolius' (W i t c zak 1992 204).
4.3.Lat. pirus f ''pear-tree' < PIE. *a2pi.,srs f' 'id.'' cf. Gk. aruioq f. 'pear-
tree, Pyrus communis' (W i t c zak 199: 04).
4.4' A]b. darclh f. 'pear-tree, Pyrus commurlis' < PIE. *a2gherclo.r f. 'id.''
cf. Gk. &1ep6oq f. 'wild pear-tree' Pyrus iimygdaliformls'' Maced. a7p6u f. 'pear-
tree' (Witczak 1992: 04). A ciiffererrt position was assumed by B laek
(.003: 6' 2004: 21)' who Saw the prefix *s4r- in the Greek and Macedonialr nanres
for'pear'. it is acceptable for rilspBog (the initial spiritus asper is lost in
agreement of the so called Grassmann's law), but not for anioq (we should expect
the form anioq with strong aspiration). What is more, the suggested development
of the Macedonian tbrm a1p5u is impossible fronr the phonological point of view
(the phoneme 'l'.s iS usually preserved as 's in Macedonian and the sonant "-ip-
yields regularly -utn- y.
It is a well krown fact that the initial non-stressed vowel is lost in Albanian
and Romanian (substratal i'eature), cf. Alb. mik'friend' < Lat. antTcus'ts.', Alb.
tet'elghtl1' < IE. 'to]-ti-, Alb. elash'ram', Rom. das'lamb' < Lat. udasitt f .

'female lamb up to one year old' (Kaczyska 200_5), Rom. miel, Arou. el,
Megl. mnieL, Istro-Rorn. ml'e ']amb' < Lat. agnelltts, Rom. nrjtitl' Aroum. nlote tl,
Meg|. n.oatez' Istro-Rom. notir 'yollllg lamb up to one year old' < Lat. anlltiltus
'ol]e-yeaf old lamb'(cf. PucariLl 190_5: 92'l03' f eoprHeB 1977: 205). Also
tl-re Dacian language seems to follow this way of development.
The Dacian and Greek names for'nettle', though related to each other,
belorrged to dilferent Stems: -stem and a-stern, respectively' This difl'erence is,
lrowever, typical of many Indo-European appellatives, cf. Lat. socrus, -us f.
 THE DACIAN NAME FOR'NETTLE' 331

'mother-in-1aw'' olnd. ,varu-f., Slavic *svekl1f.'id.'vs. Gk. rcpu f.'motlrer-

in-lziw, step-mother' .

Further cognate words denoting 'nettle' are attested in the folowing Indo-
Aryarr languages: Kati clucT / dati'nettle', Waigali ,,claisso" f*dectt?)'nettle',
Darneli zctcili'id.' (as if from Nuristani *diu-nc-), Khowar cloztuttt (as il fiom
Dardic )'clistLncr). The clerivation of the Nuristani and Dardic names for 'nettle' has
not been esterblished so far. Turner (1966: 349' 61I and 14588) reconstructs
two related arclretypes: 'kclct'ana- 'biting' (for Skt. clnicltlcl.- and PrakL'it
clantsuna- n. 'biting') and *daculct- 'nettle' (for Kati and Dameli)' deriving it from
tlre root'|'clan\-'to bite'' He quotes also two earlier suggested reconstluctiolrs:
*claaliki and *danikc7 (for Kati and Dameli). Later he qttotes tlre Khowar name
for 'nettle' (perhaps borrowed from Kati) and the Waigali one under the lieading
'kclcttllct- (T u r rr e r 1966: B30, l4_588)' However, the derivation of the Nuristani-
Dardic terms in question from the Indo-European root 'kclctk- or 'kcltutk- 'to bite'
must be abandoned. if we take into account the Modern Indian forms: Kumaoni
sisuno, siso 'nettle'. Nepali sisrtrl 'Urtica' (fiom Indic 'kllra- ratlrer thettt
'ksisLnct.-). Tu rner (l966: 175' 1345) derives these words from'l'slsnc-'nettle',
not stressing that Nepali and Kumaoni s may derive not only from OInd. xs, but
also from olnd. *s1. Tlre suggested form *iunadeveloped probably fron'l *d'iuna-
trr-rd olnd.
*cliun.a- by the assimilation of two palatalized consonants: d > t|'
- -
> .It is clear now that all these Indo-Aryan names for 'nettle' go back to
_
*dinlc- and PIE. *(a)clik-tttto-. Thrrs they are evidently related to tlre Dacian
name 6rn] or 6rrcv 'nettle'.
The dift'erence between the Indo-Aryan (i.e. Nhristani, Dardic and Indic)
terms for'nettle' and Dacian 6rrcu(v) 'id.' concems the diff'erent continuation of tlie
Indo-European palatal stop t'13. The Dacian langLage, traditionally classifled as
belonging to the Satem subgroup of the Indo-European community, slorrld
demonstrate the same reflex, which is attested in Indo-Aryan. The Dacian name in
question may be treated as an irreguiar reflex or perl-raps a centu m element.
The so called centum forms are sometilnes attested in a number of
satem languages of the Indo-European family, especially in Baltic and Slavic
(see e.g. Gob l91, Hanp 1992, DrrridanoV 1993' Danka 2004), but
also in Albanian (cf. Harnp 1960' ecHHuKa' l990: 9) and perlraps in some
Palaeo-Balkan languages (see Cimochowski 19'73, 1974, 2001: 45-61,
Kenrpiriski 1984:40-42). The interpretation of these facts is ambiguous,
though most linguists treat the centum elements in the satem Indo-European
langua-qes as possible borrowings from some (unknown and lost) centum

22 Sa,rxancxo e3uro3HaHr're. xH. 3

338 K r:.t's r.t ol To t t t u s z W IT CZA K

languages (cf'. Hamp i992) or irs irreglllar nirtive fbrms. A nurnber 01'centurn
forms may :le;riso identifiecl in lranian. Among them the,'centlllll'' forrn'|tlikttttct-
'nettle' seelrls to exist in the Parnir group of the Iranian languages, see Shn_ghni
idyinc f'' Khutl and Roshani ctyittc, Bartangi eyinc / ctyillc, Yazgulami kallnk
'nettlc. Urtica dioica' (as if from Iranian *ka-dikLutct-c:r- f. 'Urtica dioica', liter.
'rvhat nnettle !'r). In this case the Inclo-European palatal stop */i(attestecl evidently
in Nulistani, Dardic and Indian) was perhaps depalatalized before the vowel 'i'u.

5. The Dacian gutturals in the light of the botanic terminology

Most linguists (e.g. V. tr. Georgiev. I. Duridanov. L. Bednarczuk) believe
that the Dacian language, lvhicl-r has always been iclentified rvith the Thracian
complex. belonged originally to the rorrrz languages. L. Bednarczuk (1986:
411480)' following nrany othrs (among theln. W. Tomaschek. D' Detschew, V.
Neroztlalt, R' Katiic) distingtlishes tlie Thraco-Dacian subgroup of the Pitlaeo-
Balkanic languages. Though Bednarczuk obserr,es some iuteresting differences in
toponomnstics, he seems not to accept the conclusiou, based on the distribution of
the Palaeo-Balkan toponyms endlng with -tlctvtt, -pr(l' -diz'a and -bria, thttt
.,Thrace and Daciil were populated by ethnical communities which spoke tt,o
diff'erent Indo-European lernguages" (so Georgiev l98l: I2l, cf. also
Ayp x a a H o s 1916: I ll-l l-5).
In the fii'ties of the 20'r' century V. Georgiev developed his owu theory.
accorcling to which Dacian wers difl'erent fi'orn Thracian. He suggested that the
ancie nt Dercians belonged to his ,.Daco-Mysian" langnage conrmullity
(f eoprHeB 1951:13-74, Ge orgiev 1960). According to him,,,the Albanian
language is the contemporary descendant of Daco-Mysian" (Georgiev 1981:
134). Georgiev's ,,Daco-Mysian" hypothesis was accepted by many, especially
Bulgirrian linguists. Kati i (19'/4:187) correctly rejects this hypothesis, which
is based on the alleged identical comparative phonologies of Albanian and Daco-
Mysian, stressing that ,,the comparative phonology of Daco-Mysian is so
conjectnral that no far-reaching conclusior.ls should be drawn fi-om it". I agree rvith
this opinion and I believe tltat the Daciin colnparative phonology is completely
diltcre nt ll'onl tlre Albuniurr one.
In f act. there are many differences between Darcian and Alb'anian.
Bedn arczuk (1986: 506) admits many diver-qences in the preserved botaniczrl
Ilazlv rolinleczniczyclr jedynie puvtia/tnttnrtLa
terrnir-rology;
''Spord 2'7 dackicl'
'jezvIla' znajdLrje oclpor,viednik rv alb. tnanet-Jerrc 'ts.', llttt 'l]-loflva', por. tez
retorom. mani'maliltil'." [AmoIlg 27 Daciln names of medicinal plants only
sl"uvtiulmctnttct 'blackberry' finds a cognate in Alb. mctna-.fbrr 'id.', lnan
'mulberry', cf. also Retorom. mani'raspberry'1. I would like to indicate two
important correspondences between the Dacian, Bessian and Albanian plant narnes:
 THE DACIAN NAME FOR'NETTLE' 339

5.l' Dac. oBu [sva] 'elder-tree, Sambucus nigra'vs. Bessian do& f.

'colt's foot, Tussllago farfara', Alb^ cLshe f. 'Ilex aequifolium; Tussilago farfara'
(all fiom PIE. '|'e2L{pllrJ 'Sambucus nigra' (Witc zak 1992:206-01)' cf' Gk.
crctcr, Att' arctq f''elder-tree, Sambucus nigra', etc. See 4'l. The semantic
development of 'Sambucus nigra' to 'Ilex aeqifblium' and further to 'Tussilago
farfara' in Bessian and Albanian, wliich is fully motivated by the similarity of
srarp-pointed leaves of all these plants (D a n k a-W i tc zak 1995: l3l), is
noteworthy. The Dacian plant name differs both phonetically and semantically
from the Besso-Albanian forms, but it corresponds perf'ectly with the Greek name.
5.. Dac. rcrvoBoil"o 'bryony, Bryonia alba' VS. Bessian clinupulct
'bryony', Alb. thrLttk:/ f. 'dogberry, Cornus sanguinea L' (orel l998: 416)' <
IE.'k].n-abla'a kind of plarrt', liter' 'dog's apple' (TornascIrek 197_5 [1894]
34-35, Georgiev 196: 141' Duridanov l969: 86-87, f eopr:aey 19JJ:
14,Hamp 1979: l60-11, Ve kova l986:62_63,Blae k 2004: 17)' cf. Lith'
inobtLolsm', also nobel f.'buckthorn, crab-tree; dog's purrrpkin'' liter.'dog's
apple'. lt should be emphasized that the Bessian and Albanian plant names seem to
be similar phonologically (Bessian d- = Alb. r/r-), though they differ semantically.
Hamp (1919:160_161) reconstructs the fbllowing development IE. *Jrt.urablo-
> *7neptla > *?loti1nila > *?inttpula. The Dacian form, which beglns surprisingly
with r-. suggests acentum developmeltt oran early depaiaterlization of IE.'rk.
These two bunches of related fonns demonstrate clearly that Albanian
ditfers from Dacian both phonetically and semantically, but agrees almost
completely with Bessian. Thus the preserved lexical material confirms evidently
my hypothesis, according to which the ancient Bessians are ancestors of tl-re
Albanians (Wi tc z ak 1994, 1995b).
The etymological analysis of the Dacian botanical terminology allows us to
distinguish three groups of the plant names:
A. Dacian plant names of Indo-European origin (IE heritage).
B. lnnovative names, created on the basis of the Dacian vocabuiary.
C. Borrolvings from Greelt or Latin.
Six Dacian names may be included into the first archaic group (A):
ar1loprict 'ivy, Hedera helix', Bou6aO}'u 'bug1oss, Anchusa italica', 6rrc(v) 'nette,
Urtica clioica', rcrvoBori"u 'bryony, Bryonia alba', hpa 'deaclwort' Sanrbuctts
ebulus', opu 'elder-tree. Sambucus nigra'. These plant names Seem to indicate
some characteristic features of Dacian.
Firstly, the Indo-European labiovelars (*k" *5" xgl2") appear as labials in
Dacian, e.g.
5.3. Dac. arpo-pria 'ivy, Hedera heix' is identical in its origin with olnd.
ctrkct-priya- f. 'the plant Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis' (both from IE. *ark"o-priya-,
originally perhaps 'beloving the sun'). There are two Dacian terms containing the
element IE. 't'priyos (feminine *priya) 'beloved, dear to. liked, favourite, wonted'
340 K rzlsztof Tonasz W ITCZAK

own'. namely Dac. ftpre8o' f.'black bryony' Tamus communis' and arpo-prict
'ivy, Hedera hellx'. The former one is a Dacian compound name, whose first
element may be connected with Sanskrit priva- m. 'name of 2 medicinal plants',
also 'Arabian jasmine' (lex'), priyak- m" 'name of several plants (Nauclea
Cadanrba. Terrninalia tomentosl etc.)', also ';r kind of tree' (lex.); priyct-da- f "'the
plant Rhinacanthus cotnrnunis'', priyc-j7lla- nl. 'tlre plant Calosanthes Indica'
(Monier-Williams 1999: 710_1ll). Thefinalpart -t),a(-dela, -zllrr)appears
in nriury Dacian plant-names (cf' e.g' Dac' adilc 'edder-wort' Dracunculus
vulgaris', clocclila (?) 'ground-pine, herb-ivy, Aiuga chamaepitys or Aiuga iva';
ou61}'rrlr1iotleLa 'the plant Clrrysanthemum partlrenum Bernh.', rcorrco6i)'cr
'winter-cherry, Physalis alkekerrgi', nprail'u f' 'black bryony, Tamus communis',
npon6r}"u lpropecliLtL'cinquefoil, Potentilla reptans', te6r}'Cx'catmint,
Calamintha', usozil,ct (?) 'qynoglosse, Cynoglossum officinale L.') and
demonstrates probably the meaning 'herb, plant' or the like. It is obvious that Dac.
etrpo-pria'ivy, Hedera helix' and OInd. arka-priya- f.'the plant Hibiscus Roszr
Sinensis'(Monier-Williams 1999: 89) contains the samefinal element. The
identification of the first element of the compound (Dac. arpo-'sun?' vs. olnd.
cu'k- ln.'ray, flash of lighting; sun; fire; crystai; copper; membrum virile: religious
ceremol]y; praise, lrynn, song; sirlger, learned mar') suggest the existetlce of 'i -'''-
in the Indo-European archetype. The development of t'k'u to Dac. p is typical of the
centLrm languages.
5.4. Dac. Bou6a0hu 'bugloss, Anchusa italica' . 'rg"'{tt!- 'cow' (Pisani
l951), cf. Gk. Boy}'cr;ooov n. 'bugloss, Anchusa italica L.', liter. 'bull's tongue',
Litl'l. ,qdas m. 'name of some different plants such as: bugloss, Anchusa italica L.;
burdock, hardlock, Arctium lappa L.; sorrel, Rumex acetosa L. / Ochsenzunge,
Klette, Ampfer' (differently Fraenkel 1962: 160, who derives it inconvincingly
from Polish gocl'reptile'), perhaps also Sanskrit go-jihvcl- f. 'name of a plant
(Phlomis or Premna esculenta: Elephantopus scaber; Coix barbata or a kind of
Hieraciurn)', liter. 'cow's tongue' (Monier-Williams 1999; 364). It is
possible, though far from being certain, that the element -6d07"u is a Dacian name
for 'tongue ', derived in some way from IE. *dltghu- / *clpghu,a- f. 'id.'.
Secondly, the Indo-European paiatal stops (*f 'rg *gh) demonstrate ii
guttural reflex and no spirant one, e.g.
5.5. Dac. rcrvoBor}"cr 'bryony, Bryonia alba' < IE'.'k]dtn-ahla'a kind of
plant', liter. 'dog's apple', cf. Bessan clinupula 'bryony, Bryonia alba', Alb.
thnukL f. 'dogberry, Cornus sanguinea L.'' Lith' nobtLolas m' 'bucktlrorn, crab-
tree; dog's pumpkin'. See -5.2. The traditional opinion about the satem character
of Dacian is accepted by B lael< (2004: l7), who registers <tlre unexpected
"centum" reflex in Dacian *kitt-r> and ref-ers to ,.the proto-Albanian rule which
neutralized IE palatals before resonants". These words explain nothing" Reasons
for the suggested depalatalization cannot be established. On the other hand, if the
 THE DACIAN NAME FOR'NETTLE 341

Dacian language beionged to the centLlm Indo-European languages, the above

continuation is regular and unproblematic.
5.6. Dac. 6trc 'riettle, Urtica dioica' < PIE. *(a)di}i', cf' Gk. a6iq f.
'nettle', Indo-Aryirn 'ditl-tc-'id'' (Kati clltcT / dacti, Waigall ,,claisso" |)'ckcu.?f ,
Dameli z'ctci'netIle'; Klrowar clozutlLt'id.'; Kumaoni sisttno, slso, Nepal si'sltt'
'nettle' Urtica'). The Dardic and Nuristani forms containing a palirtal reflex c (or )
document clearly IE. *L in the Indo-European archetype. The Dacian lirnguage
shows [k], thus registering its centum character.
Thirdly, the suggested S a t e m forms (e.g. Dac. opu 'elder_tree,
Sambucus nigra' = Gk. arto,, Att. arctfl f' 'elder-tree' < PIE. +a2lva
'Sanrbucus', see 5.1) do not exclude tire centum character of Dacizrn. It is worth
emphasizing that such a standard centum language as Latin demonstrates a
similarreflex. cf. Lat. /1r'llJ m.'bear' Ursus'< IE. *ffios m.'id.'' cf. Gk. &prtoq
m. 'bear', OInd. gksah m. 'id.' (Sihler 1995: 115). The Indo-European term for
'elder-tree' contained tl-re so ciilled Brugmannian cluster (IE. 'rAT, transcribed
sometimes as 'i'''). Both Dacian and Latirr sliow [s] as a reflex of this clttster'
My conciusion runs as follows: the Dacian plant names of archaic origin
document unanimously the centum f'eatr"rres of the Dacian language (see 5.2-
5.6). The only exception (5.1) can be explained with no difficulty as a possible
centum reflex of IE'. '''(=''klr). Tl-rus Daciall is ace11 tum languageandnota
satem one. The onomastic examples indicating the satem character of the
Dacian speech must be checked lnd re-interpreted. In this place I would like to
stress th;rt many Dacian personal names and place names seem to represent a
cetltum reflexation, e.g. the name of tlre last Dacian ktllg. Dec:eblus, ls
explirined by B ed n arc zr k (1984: 28, l98: 478) as'having ten men'S strength
i o sile dziesiciu'(: olnd' daa-bol- adj.'posses"sing l0 powers' <IE.'kelekry-
bolos)4. See also such Dacian place names as: 'ArcpLoviu, Agntonia, ,,Stadt in
Dakien zwischen Tibiscus und Sarmizegethusa" (Detschew 1951:11,
Duridilnov 1969: 14) < IE' *'kllzrrrl- 'Stone'' cf. olnd. alltan-tt. 'Stolle;
heaven', Gk. circporv m. 'anvil, meteorite, thunderbolt' Aci-dctvct,,,Stadt an der
AlutastraBe in Dakien" (Detschew 1951:11) < IE. 'kak-i-dheg"r7f.'uppercity,
citadel', cf. Gk. arpnolrq'id.'and so on.
The c e n t u m character of the Dacian language may be also suggested on
the basis of some phonoiogicerl processes observed in Roulnanian, e.g. the
clevelopment of Latin qrr to Roum. p seems to be caused by the substratal influence,
cf. Roum. api 'water'< I-at. aqu.a f.'id.'. Roum. pottrniche 'quail'< Lat.
cottulix, *quclturnix'id''. Roum. patrLL'fottr' < Lat. qu.atttLor'4' (P ucariu
1905: B. 10, 113, Meyer-Ltibke tr935:46,12' 574).It Suggests clearly that
14: ft y7 5. t o.f' To ttl tSz W IT CZA K

the labiovelar stop "/t''' wls clranged to [p] in Dacian, aS it iS independently

suggested by the Dacian plant names (see 5.3 and 5.4).
Though my final stand-point on the Dacian language is different from the
traditional opinion, I hope that Prof. Ivan Duridanov would have read my
contribution with interest.
Conclusions:
1' The Dacian term for'nettle' is attested in two scribal forms: 6rr (cod.
M) and 6uv (alii codd.). It is unclear whether the former form or the latter one is
original. Linguists prefer usually the second variant, but there is strong
paleographical evidence for the originality of the former one.
2' Some Balkanic terrns for 'nettle', nanrely Romanian urzici.. Aroumanian
zlrdzict, Meglenian tn'dzicd, Istro-Romzinian u'zik 'nettle' and Serbo-Croatian
clizll. pariika 'a kind of nettle''] Seem to be influenced by a substratal term *dika'i
't'd.iliu(n). Both these hybrid forms document clearly that the Dacian nerme in
question should be reconstructed as 6rx(v) and not 6v.
3. The Greek appellative a6iq f. 'nettle, Urtica dioica' and some Indo-
Aryzrn terms for 'nettle' (all derived from *diu-na-) give a perfect basis for the
reconstruction of the Indo-European root 'kdik- (<PIE. *h2clik-) 'nettle', attested
only in the Central subgroup of the Indo-European family. It is suggested that the
Dacian language, which belonged probably to the same subgroup, preserved the
primitive term for 'nettle' as 6rrc(v).
4. The Dacian continuation of the guttural stops clearly suggests that
Dacian had to represent a centum language. The Indo-European palatal stops (*f
'rr '"gh) demonstrate a guttural reflex (e.g' Dac. 6trc 'nettle, Urtictl dioica' < IE.
'tlik-'"Dac. rcrvoBorlu 'bryony. Bryonia alba' < IE' *htn-abla'akind of plant',
liter. 'dog's apple'. cf. Bessan clinupulcL'id.', Alb. thnukl f. 'dogberry', Lith'
nobuols m' 'dog's pumpkin'). Tile indo-European labiovelars (*i| '*']| "8/'i'|')
appear as labials in Daciarr (e'g. Dac. clrpopric 'ivy, Hedera helix'= olnd. arkct'
pri1a- f. 'the plant Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis' < IE. 'i'rk"'o-priya-; Dac. Bou6d0Lu
'btrgloss, Anchusa italica' a 'rg\,oLl' 'cow', cf. Greek Boy}'roooov n. 'bugloss,
Anclrusa italiczr', liter. 'bull's tongue', Lith. gclas'ochsenzttnge, Anchusa italica',
Sanskrit go-jilua- f. 'a kind of plant', liter. 'cow's tongue'). The suggested s a t a m
fbrrns (e.g. Dac. opu 'elder-tree, Sambucus nigra'< PIE. *e2lfuvya'Sambucus',
cf. Gk. crrtcr, Att" ar<tli f. 'elder-tree. Sambucus nigra'. Arm. hcc'i'ash-tree'.
Yatvingian sjale'sambucus', Bessan aou f.'colt's foot, Tussilago farfara', Alb.
ashe f . 'Ilex aequifolium; Tussilago farfara') hardly exclude the c e n tu m
chalncter of Dacian. Note that Latin demonstrates a similar reflex of the same
cluster (cf. Lat" ursLLS m.'bear' < ,8. 'rylQos m. 'id.'). My conclusion concerning
the c e n t u m chzrracter of Dacian is different from the traditional opinion on the
position of this language.
 THE DACIAN NAME FOR 'NETTLE' 343

NOTES
' M.yer-Ltibke (i935: 757) claims: <Di rum. -1-Fonn ist wohl irn grieclr.
uclike .,Brcnnesscl" iin-uelehnt.> Similarly Pucariu (1905: 17). Howeter, it is rnore
prornising to suggest the influerrce of the Dacian naI-ne tbr'nettle', 6rrc, than the Greek orre
(a5ircr1).
. 2Morgenstierne (1914:25) clerives the Pamir terms for''nettle'from Iriinian
*katagulai- (r'ith the question mark), not exp1aining their original senrantics' My
derivation from *kct-d'iktLna-T- is convincing plrorro1ogically and semantically peri'ect'
3
According to orel (l998: 416), Alb. thbn'ttk! l. 'dogberr'y' is an ,,irregular
tr'anslbrrnation of *tllnubl continuing PAlb' 'r/slrnu-cbla- 'dog's apple' identical with
Dac. r<rvoBoi7,"a 'the plant Brionia alba' (Diosc. 4. l82) and Lith. tinobuols ni. 'dog's
pumpkin"'. Acccpting this etymology, I must ernphasize that the Dacian lbnn diffbrs fi'om
the Albanian reflex in respect of both thc initial phoneme - (vs. A1b. t-) and the inter'nal
-- (vs. Alb. -k-). Th Bessan torm clinuptla 'Bryony, Bryp11ia albc' contatns the same
plroneme in thc initial position (Bessan d- = alb, tlt- <IE. *.f-) and the voiceless stop in the
internal position (Bessan -p- vs. Alb, --). It is obvious, ther'etbre, tlrat tlre Albanian fbrm in
question derives probably fi'om the Bessan plant name, not fi'om the Dacian one.
a
The alternative explanation drives itlltial cleke- in Daoian from IE. '|'dek-cs-, af .

Lat. decus, -oris n.'beauty, glory, honor, dignity; virtue, worth; sou-roe of glory' (so
Krctschmer l896:216,De tschw 1957: I4)<IE'*dek-(P okorny i959: l89_
l9l), cf. olnd. daasyati'to render servioe, serve' worship, favour, obli-se; to rrccord, do
trvour to' (usilally interpleted as a denominativ vcrb basd on a llol1_pleserved es-stem
noun *claas- = Lat. cl'ecus')' This intefpfetation pref'ers also a centum origin of the
personal name Decebrs. Tlie name o1'the last king of the Dacians meant perhaps 'having
dignity on the fbrehead' (< IE. ',dekes-bholcts), cf. Alb. bctlld m. 1'. 'tbrehead', OPruss. Dal/o
f.'id.'and olnd. bhlani n.'fbrel-read;brow', a|so bhlh m.'id.'(Hu1d 1984:40).

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346 Kr4,s7"t o.f T o t nct s z W IT CZA K

Author's address:
(Jllivlersytet dzki
Wydzial Filologicztty
K at e clra .filolo g i i klasY c znej
Za k ad j zykozn.avl s tw a i ill do eur op e is ki
'uL, LipowcL Bl

9a-568 d
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