Date:  Mon, 26 Feb 1996 08:54:59 -0800

From:  Allen Maberry <maberry[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

Subject: Re: etymology: 'negro', 'necro'



Lynne wrote:

> well, first of all, _necro_ or _nekros_ is greek for 'corpse'. the

> latin for death is usually _mors_ (and for corpse is _cadaver_). i

> can't tell from the american heritage whether _nekros_ and _niger_

> (latin for 'black') have the same IE source, since it doesn't seem to

> give a source for _niger_.

>

I checked a few works on IE and found the root of the Greek nekros to be

*nek-s which is cognate with the Latin nex, necis "violent death" and is

found in the verbs neco and noceo (Frisk. Griechisches etymologisches

Woerterbuch. Heidelberg, 1960-)

A long entry on the Latin niger (Walde. Lateinisches etymologisches

Woerterbuch. Heidelberg, 1938-1956) listed the etymology as uncertain and

cited several theories, none connected with the Greek nekros or the IE

*nek-s.

Allen

maberry[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]u.washington.edu