Thread by @pvaal2

Re: Witzel’s linguistics claim re: origin of “Godhuma” for Wheat & claims of it being a ‘nonsensical’ loan word

Claims etymology is “cow smoke” - seems extremely dubious, to say the least

2 references provided include Mayrhofer (EWA) & Kuiper

@vakibs Lets dive deeper..

https://twitter.com/vakibs/status/1353075440399749126

Reference 1: Mayrhofer [EWA 498-499]

*godum analyzed as [go-dhuma - ‘cow smoke’]

Mayrhofer says-“Folk etymologies from gav-go-dhuma to be assumed”-what is the basis?? *crickets* 🦗 🦗

*Chinese origin theory by Mahdihassan rightly trashed as worthless. So should his own be.😁

Reference 2: FBJ Kuiper (IIJ34, 119)

Basis of Witzel’s claim - “even Avestan ...has such foreign words as ‘gantuma’ (wheat)”

Thats it.

The *entire* evidence

Just a random throw-away last sentence as the entire basis of the ‘cow-smoke’ claim!

‘Cow-smoke’ - my foot. 😁🤣😂

Now this claim is flogged across multiple works by M Witzel

e.g: Substrate Languages in Old Indo-Aryan (EJVS 1999)

‘When this word entered Punjab, it MUST HAVE changed its initial syllable *gan to *go-thus *godum

‘This is a clear folk etymology’-how? why? *crickets* 🦗 🦗

Let’s look at the origin of this गोधूमः-गो+धूम=‘smoke’ business

Monier-Williams & Macdonnell has this fanciful “earth exhalation/smoke” etymology. No other source has it

MW is famously error ridden, so need to take it with a bushel of salt

√गुध् - गौ (earth)
धूम - smoke

🤯

Finally, let us look at traditional sources

१ Kalpadruma - गुध्यते वेष्ट्यते त्वगादिभिः
२ Vachaspatyam - गुध + ऊम

गुध् - cover, clothe
ऊम - protecting

As referred to by @ganeshkrishna , the etymology provided by शब्दार्थकौस्तुभः is

गुध् - surround/cover
ऊम - protect

https://twitter.com/ganeshkrishna/status/1353027985918443520

Seems like MW had gluten allergy & in a fever-dream came up with ‘earth-smoke’ for ‘godhuma’ (wheat)

Mayrhofer then says [gav-go-dhuma] & Kuiper channels him & reiterate ‘it MUST be folk etymology’

M Witzel then resurrects it as ‘cow smoke’ & flogs it using these 2 references

All the while, there is evidence of godhuma=wheat for 2500+ years & a perfectly fine etymology & derivation that exists in India 👍🏼

Given what we now know of admission procedures for Harvard, one can certainly understand the errors & omissions 😂🙏🏼

जयतु संस्कृतम्।जयतु भारतम्।

https://twitter.com/pvaal2/status/1353146752518549505

*adding a few more references

FBJ Kuiper’s evidence - the second reference claimed by M Witzel as proof of the claimed “cow-smoke” etymology

This one sentence is the basis of the claim - risible, isn’t it? 😁

This is another Witzel article where ‘godhuma=cow-smoke’ has been flogged

Aryan and non-Aryan Names in Vedic India : J. Bronkhorst & M. Deshpande (eds.), Aryans and Non-Non-Aryans, Evidence, Interpretation and Ideology