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Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The First Rule of Etymology

Gregory Nagy, "The Name of Achilles: Questions of Etymology and 'Folk-Etymology'," Illinois Classical Studies 19 (1994) 3-9 (at 9):
Palmer once called attention to "the first rule of etymology," attributed to Franz Skutsch: "Look for Latin etymologies first on the Tiber."35

35 L.R. Palmer, "The Language of Homer," in A.J.B. Wace and F.H. Stubbings (eds.), A Companion to Homer (London 1963) 90-91; cf. Palmer (above, note 1) 187.
The other reference to Palmer is L.R. Palmer, The Interpretation of Mycenaean Greek Texts (Oxford 1963)