*H₁n̥gʷnis

*H₁n̥gʷnis is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the fire god in Proto-Indo-European mythology.

Name

The archaic Proto-Indo-European language (ca. 4500–4000 BC) had a two-gender system which originally divided words between animate and inanimate, a system used to distinguish a common term from its deified synonym. Therefore, fire as an animate entity and active force was known as *h₁n̥gʷnis, while the inanimate entity and natural substance was named *péh₂ur (cf. Greek: πυρ, pyr; English: fire).^[1]^[2]

In some traditions, as the sacral name of the dangerous fire may have become a word taboo,^[3] the stem *h₁n̥gʷnis served as an ordinary term for fire, as in the Latin ignis.^[1]

Evidence

PIE: *h₁n̥gʷnis, the fire as an active force,^[1]
- Indo-Iranian: Hagni-,^[4]
  - Vedic: Agni (अग्नि), a fire deity,^[3]
  - Young Avestan: Dāšt-āɣni,^[4]
- Balto-Slavic: *ungnis,^[5]
  - Lithuanian: Ugnis szwenta, 'Holy Fire',^[6]
  - Latvian: Uguns māte, 'Mother of Fire',^[6]
- Proto-Albanian: *agni-,^[7]
  - Albanian: enjte, 'Thursday'.^[7]

References

^ a b c Mallory & Adams 2006, p. 122.
^ West 2007, p. 135–136.
^ a b West 2007, p. 266.
^ a b Lubotsky 2011, s.v. agni-.
^ Derksen 2008, p. 364.
^ a b West 2007, p. 269.
^ a b Orel 1998, p. 88.

Bibliography

Derksen, Rick (2008). Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon. Brill. ISBN 9789004155046.
Lubotsky, Alexander (2011), "Indo-Aryan Inherited Lexicon", Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Project, Brill
Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (2006). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929668-2.
Orel, Vladimir (1998). Albanian etymological dictionary. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-11024-3.
West, Martin Litchfield (2007). Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928075-9.

*H₁n̥gʷnis

Name

Evidence

See also

References

Bibliography