Chapter 6. Giving, Taking, and Receiving Abstract 1) Hittite, which attaches to the root *dō– the sense of “to take,” suggests that in Indo-European the notions “to give” and “to take” converged, as it were, in gesture (cf. English to take to). 2) Contrary to the traditional etymologies which find no difficulty in bringing together Lat. emo and Got. niman (Germ. nehmen), but firmly separate niman from Gr. némō, justifying… Read more
Chapter 7. Hospitality Abstract In Latin “guest” is called hostis and hospes < *hosti-pet-. What is the meaning of these elements? What is the meaning of the compound? 1) –pet-, which also appears in the forms pot-, Lat. potis (Gr. pótis, despótēs, Skr. patiḥ), and –pt– (Lat. –pte, i–pse?) originally meant personal identity. In the family group (dem-) it is the master who is eminently “himself” (ipsissimus, in Plautus, means… Read more
Chapter 8. Personal Loyalty Abstract For Osthoff, Eiche und Treue (1901), the group of Germ. treu is related to the Indo-European name for “oak,” Gr. drûs: to be loyal means to stand as firm as an oak. It will be shown that if the relationship really exists, the affiliation is the reverse: the common root signifies “to be firm” and the adjective designates “tree,” literally “what is resistant, the solid… Read more
Section 3: Purchase Chapter 9. Two Ways of Buying Abstract Were the roots *wes– and kwrī-, which have provided the verbs for “to buy,” synonymous in Indo-European? Greek, where these two roots coexist and function in suppletion, enables us to determine the first as the designation of transaction and the second as that of payment. Text To designate the “purchase,” the agreement of several languages provides us with a well-defined… Read more
Chapter 10. Purchase and Redemption Abstract Indo-European had words for “to be worth” and “value.” But a study of the Homeric usage of alphánō ‘to bring in, yield, fetch’ makes it clear that alphḗ designated originally the exchange value of a man put up for sale. Skt. arhat ‘a man of particular merit’ brings confirmation of this ancient sense. With the Germans, the custom of selling a man who had… Read more
Chapter 11. An Occupation without a Name: Commerce Abstract The comparison of Indo-European languages furnishes no common designation for commerce as a specific activity, as distinguished from buying and selling. The particular terms which appeared in different places are usually recognizable as borrowings (Lat. caupo, Gr. kápēlos), or recent creations (Gr. émporos). The Latin negōtium, itself a recent word, has a peculiar history: 1) A calque on Gr. a–skholía, neg–ōtium… Read more
Section 4: Economic Obligations Chapter 12. Accountancy and Valuation Abstract Latin duco and Greek hēgéomai have the same senses; the literal sense “lead, command” and the figurative sense “believe, judge, estimate.” But we must be careful not to deduce from this that there were parallel lines of development in both cases, from the literal to the figurative sense. Whereas with Greek hēgéomai ‘command’ there was a direct passage from… Read more
Chapter 13. Hiring and Leasing Abstract Unlike French, Latin opposes conducere ‘to hire, take on lease’ to locare ‘let out on hire, to lease’. The specialized sense of conducere , which basically signifies “lead,” started in the military context of recruiting and becomes specifically “to hire” when a chief (dux) engages men for a given sum of money: conducere mercede. By a parallel development, locare ‘to put a thing in… Read more
Chapter 14. Price and Wages Abstract When studied in their most ancient uses and referred to their Indo-European origin, the words for wages—in particular Gr. misthós, Got. laun (German Lohn)—show that before designating the “price for some piece of work,” they signified “reward for a brilliant exploit,” “prize in a competition.” As for Lat. merces, which also does not signify “wage” in the modern sense, its connection with merx ‘merchandise’… Read more
Chapter 15. Credence and Belief Abstract The exact formal correspondence between Lat. crē–dō and Sanskrit śrad–dhā– is a guarantee of ancient heritage. Studies of the uses of śrad–dhā– in the Rig Veda show that the meaning of the word is “act of confidence (in a god), implying restitution (in the form of a divine favor accorded to the faithful).” The expression of the same complex notion, the IE *kred-, recurs… Read more
