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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] QNH-BSM

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>
  • To: tladatsi AT charter.net
  • Cc: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] QNH-BSM
  • Date: Sun, 21 May 2006 21:50:57 +0100

On 21/05/2006 06:17, tladatsi AT charter.net wrote:
...

Even if QNH did refer to Cannabis, why would the Greeks need to borrow a word
from a foreign language for a plant they were well acquainted with? When
Herodotus (450 BCE) and Dioskarides (70 CE) refer to Kannabis, Hebrew was
already a dying language. There would not seem to be any reason for a loan.

When did the Greeks first become acquainted with cannabis/hemp? Do we have any idea? Obviously not later than the time of Herodotus, but it could have been much earlier, at a time when no one could claim that Hebrew was a dying language. How did the plant first arrive in Greek speaking regions? According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis, which may or may not be accurate, "The plant is believed to have originated in the mountainous regions just north-west of the Himalayas in India, though it could also come from Northern Africa". So it is not native to Greece, nor to Scythia or Thrace. Very likely it was first brought to Greece by Phoenician traders, speakers of a language very close to Hebrew, who would have called it by its Semitic name. This could well have happened several centuries before Herodotus, in the same rough period as when the Greeks borrowed from the Phoenicians the alphabet and the names of the letters, and very likely also QANEH > KANH/KANNA. And, as the cannabis plant does in some way resemble a reed or cane, its Semitic name may well have been a compound of QANEH and something else - although probably not BOSEM - which would easily explain Greek KANNABIS. Or maybe the name is a Greek compound, possibly something like KANNA BIAS "cane of strength" - "strength" referring to the physical strength of hemp rather than any medicinal properties!


--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/





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