Date:  Mon, 26 Feb 1996 20:41:20 -0800

From:  SETH SKLAREY <crissiet[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]IX.NETCOM.COM>

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



Does this mean that "neking" is kissing corpses?



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

>

>