Reconstruction talk:Proto-Slavic/kobyla

Relation to Phrygian deity 'Cybelē'?

@ZomBear: I haven't researched the topic thoroughly, but just on a general ground, it looks suspicious to me that Phrygian Κῠβέλη (Kubélē) and Thracian Κᾰβῠ́λη (Kabúlē) are (linguistically) related. In principle, the only way that the root *k[a/o]b- would yield Phrygian *kyb- is if it had reflected a late spelling (4th cent. BC and later) of an earlier kōb-. Even in that case, though, one would expect occasional variants spelled with -ou-. Here, I am not even accounting for the hypothesis that Cybele may have had an Anatolian origin (which additionally complicates the question).

I'm somewhat wary that the alleged relation between Cybelē and Cabylē may originate from the presumed Statue of Cybelē found near modern Yambol (the descendant of Thracian Cabyle). This archeological founding probably suffices to conjecture that Cybelē was worshiped by ancient Thracians, but I don't think it is enough to equate the theonym with the Thracian toponym or to the word for mare. Безименен (talk) 17:12, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Relation to Proto-Nakh *qadale (“mare”)?

@ZomBear: @Bezimenen: I don't know if it's worth taking into account? ɶLerman (talk) 11:14, 18 May 2023 (UTC)

@ɶLerman:: Even if there is some etymological relation, it is on the level PIE - proto-Northeast Caucasian. Proper Slavic and Caucasian people didn't have direct contacts before the late Antiquity. Безименен (talk) 18:34, 18 May 2023 (UTC)

@Bezimenen: This, of course, is understandable, but I wonder if it could be an onomatopoietic form? ɶLerman (talk) 18:40, 18 May 2023 (UTC)

@ɶLerman:: I can't tell exactly. The root of *kobyla could be onomatopoeic but the etymon as a whole looks like a grammatical formation. Particularly, the ending *-yla is a plausible suffix both in Balto-Slavic and in paleo-Balkan languages (cf. Dardanian Bardylis, Dacian Apulon, Thracian Gutila). Unfortunately, it's hard to deduce anything conclusive based on the scarce evidence we have. Безименен (talk) 19:33, 18 May 2023 (UTC)