Thread by @pvaal2

Given this half-joking tweet, lets actually do honest work 😀& check out claimed provenance of PIE *ḱorkeh₂ as origin of शर्करा [Samskritam] which then spread globally as sugar,azucar, zucker etc

Claim:शर्करा is from PIE ḱorkeh₂ {gravel}

Note: PIE actually claims *k̑orkā😎

The PIE entry in IEW (Pokorny)

*k̑orkā? OR *k̑rokā? OR *k̑orkₑlā ->gravel/pebble/grit

Sanskrit-sárkarā
Pali-sakkharā
Greek-σάκχαρ σάκχαρον σακχαρίς (sakchar/on/is)
Greek-κρόκη κροκάλη (krókē/krokálē)

However, why is the PIE word determined as Korka/Kroka?

What is the basis?

Lets look at ancient Greek words (attic) mentioned as the ‘basis’ of the PIE word k̑orkā

κρόκη & κροκάλη have ONE of the meanings being pebble- other meaning being thread/woof

But its κρέκω NOT κρόκη

Whats the logic for chosing k̑orkā here & NOT k̑rokā

Whats the validity?

As far as कृशन is concerned, there doesn’t seem to be any basis to the Wiktionary claim if ‘pearls’ & Sarkara

What is the connection to Sarkara & kṛśana ?

God only knows

Now if attic κρόκη & κροκάλη can be claimed as basis, why NOT so-called “Dravidian” roots?

Let us look at non-Indo European words for ‘gravel’

Voila !

There is the ProtoDravidian {*čar- } GRAVEL😀
Tamil-caracara (-pp-, -tt-)
Mal. -caral, carakkallu
Kannada-caralu
Tulu-caraṭè

Even the Telugu ‘garusu’ sounds similar to Sharkara - k̑orkā - Karakara !

Why aren’t we referring to these ‘Dravidian’ words / etymology when talking about etymology of Sarkara?

Why is it only the “Indo-European” / PIE ?

Why are we closing certain lines of explorations?

Now lets look at the traditional Samskrita etymology of शर्करा

शॄ-करन् कस्य नेत्वम् via Unadi Sutra ४।३

Gravel in संस्कृतम् uses two similar words शर्करा & कर्कर !

Gravelly mould (शर्करा) is defined as कर्करसहिता मृत्

कर्कर -hard/solid/firm

चूर्णजनकक्षुद्रपाषाणखण्डम् !

Also, as mentioned by @sudarshanhs महोदयः, करक।करका also means ‘hailstones’ in Samskritam

So there is a sense of ‘pebbles’, ‘hard’, ‘stones’ here for the terms कर्कर or करक which is also suspiciously similar to ‘Dravidian’ caracara, caral, caralu etc

शर्करा {pebbles / gravel} in संस्कृतम् is the basis of शर्करा-ground or candied sugar given its obvious consistency

However, whither the PIE k̑orkā?

Why can’t the “Dravidian” ‘cararcara।caral।caralu be intimately connected to संस्कृतम् or “IndoEuropean” कर्कर / शर्कर ?

If PIE k̑orkā & Proto-Dravidian *čar- both mean gravel->

Who borrowed from whom?

Did Greek borrow κρόκη from proto-Dravidian?😂
OR
Did proto Dravidian borrow from संस्कृतम् ?

Or do we need to rethink traditional water-tight separation of Aryan/Dravidian language origin myths?

If Dravidian/Tamil ‘borrowed’ from IE, then the PIE k̑orkā got transformed to proto Dravidian *čar- & Tamil ‘caracara’ via the संस्कृतम् route

OTOH, if *čar- became कर्कर or शर्करा, then this word went out the opposite direction with κρόκη possibly borrowing from ‘Dravidian’

Or is it that received notions of IE & Dravidian language evolution in India & direction of linguistic movements need a re-evaluation?

Usage/validity of Linguistics in explaining origin of culture & civilization is always challenging

The शर्करा।Sugar case is one more example