Domenico Muscianisi (University of Parma)
The aim of this paper is to investigate PIE “left” both within the frame of linguistics and cultural anthropology. The various word-changes and the secondary meanings in IE languages show a linguistic taboo. (A) Nevertheless, the extant correspondences reveal a connection with a PIE concept of manhood and the male genitals. (B) Then, an etymology for lai(u̯)ós-type “left” is proposed with the identification of a stem *lh2s- and the aim of a reassessment of LIV2 (397, 401) roots *?las-, 1.*leh2- and 2.*leh2-.
(A) Cultural wise, the connectable words for “left” belong to three different groups (cf. Beekes 1994:89, Stüber 2006:67–69, Buck 1949:865–867). Phonological awkwardnesses are due to word taboo processes.
Group I: Ved. savyá- (RV+), YAv. haoiia-, OCS šui, MW a-swy, a-sw (*ad-). From *seu̯-i̯ó- < PIE *seu̯- ‘to squeeze, penetrate’ (LIV2 537). Male Sexual Allusions: Ved. roots √sav ‘to press, squeeze’ (*seu̯-), √savi-1 ‘to generate, give birth’ (*seu̯H(2/3)-) and √savi-2 ‘to enliven, impel’ (*seu̯h-1) mix some of their forms allowing different sex-related folk-etymologies, as in RV 7.20.5 (Indra’s birth), in RV 1.28.1b (soma-making).
Group II: Gr. skaiós (Hom.+), Lat. scaeuus (Enn.+), MIr. citt-ach ‘left-handed’. From *sk(e)h2i-u̯ó- (Gr., Lat.) and *ki-tto- (MIr.) ← *skh2i-to-. Male Sexual Allusions: Lat. scaeuola ‘phallic charm’ (Varr. LL 7.97) and Plaut. Cas. 969–976. The same root appears in Lat. ob-scae-nus ‘obscene, vulgar’ (cf. de Melo 2019:2.1016 and Rocca 2018:37).
Group III: Gr. laiós (Tyrt.+), Lat. laeuus (Enn.+), OCS lěvъ. From *lh2i-u̯ó-. Male Sexual Allusions: Hsch. λ 111 λαί· ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσχρουργίας and Phot. λ 28 {λαι}λαί· κατὰ ἀποκοπὴν ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσχρολογίας. Gr. αἰσχρουργέω, -ός are technical terms referring to male masturbation (Sext.Em. P. 3.206) and male homosexual intercourses (Gal. 12.249).
(B) Concerning Group III, Hsch. λ 111 and Phot. λ 28 allow the identification of Gr. λαί as a relict locative, basic stem for *lai-u̯ó- from PGr. *lah-i. The form matches with Gr. καί (LOC.SG *kah-i) and Cypr. /kas/ (LOC.SG *kas-ø). After the PGr. proportion *kah-i : *kas-ø = *lah-i : x, where x = *las-ø. This stem *las- creates other sexually related words, such as Hsch. λ 357 λάσ-θαι· αἰσχρολογία, 382 λάσ-ται· πόρναι, 384 λάσ-ταυροι ‘boy-prostitutes’; cf. also Lat. las-ciuus ‘licentious, lewd’ (WH 1.766–767) and Rus. lás-yj ‘eager, greedy’ (Pronk 2019:123n2).
PIE loc.sg. *lh2-s(-i) (hysterodynamic s-stem) became a new stem in Late PIE for new verbs, such as Gr. λιλαίομαι (*li-lah-i̯e- :: *-lh2s-) ‘to desire’ (sexual meaning in Iliad 14.331) and Skr. laṣati (*le-ls-e- :: *-lh2s-) ‘to desire’: cf. LIV2 397, 401. Thus, PIE *lh2i-u̯ó- means ‘in the manhood side → left’; a typological parallel can be found in Tommo So (Mali), where “left” is literally expressed as ‘in the excrement side’ opposed to “right” as ‘in the eating side’ (McPherson 2013:248).