Re: Indo-European Studies

R. Wallace (cla02@cc.keele.ac.uk)
12 Jul 1995 08:11:08 GMT

Peter Metcalfe (P.Metcalfe@student.canterbury.ac.nz) wrote:
[deletions]

: I think the demons are a conflation of two enemies. The Sanskirt word
: 'Deva' denoting a good being is roughly cognate our 'devil'

I think not. Our word devil is derived from the Greek diabolos, meaning
accuser or slanderer, which is used in the septuagint version of the old
testament to translate the Hebrew word we conventionally render as Satan,
which has the same meaning. What is cognate with deva is the Greek theos and
Latin deus, both meaning god.

I can't comment on the rest.

Richard Wallace