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Re: Celtic word for "tree"

From:Keith Gaughan <kmgaughan@...>
Date:Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 14:33
caeruleancentaur wrote:

> I subscribe to the magazine "Parabola." In an article entitled "The > Celtic Tree of Life" by Mara Freeman occurs the following > statement: "That most magical of Celtic trees, the oak, derives its > Gaelic name (Old Irish "daur", Welsh "derw") from the Sanskrit > word "duir," which gives us "door."
Well, the modern Irish for "door" is "doras". "Oak" is "dair".
> There are two PIE roots: *deru (with variations) which is the origin > of the English "tree," and *dhwer (with variations) which is the > origin of the English "door." I believe the author of the above > statement is wrong in deriving the Gaelic word from the PIE root for > door.
"Tree", OTOH, is "crann" and in Welsh "Coeden". I think they're probably wrong. K.