lion - "five-faced"

[Dominic Goodall]

A word that might be relevant to this discussion and that seems not to have
been mentioned in it yet is pa~ncikaa.  Although it is not uncommonly
regarded as a variant form of pa~njikaa, might it not actually be another
derivate (like, perhaps, prapa~nca) of a root pac or pa~nc `To diffuse,
elaborate' (Apte s.v. pac II and pa~nc)?  Are those roots too to be
connected with the numeral?

Dominic Goodall

>The old Indo-Europeanist view is that prapaJcayati is a denominative stem
>derived from prapaJca.  paJcan [parallel with saptan] is in fact attested in
>bahuvrIhis [see Wackernagel-Debrunner, Altindische Grammatik 3.354].  I have
>no explanation for pra + paJca [nor for the absence of pra + dvi or pra +
>daza, etc.], but paJca as 'five' thus to ''expansiveness, manifoldness" is
>easy.  We have in IE languages many instances of 'five' going to 'fist, hand,
>etc.'  -- not only in English but also in German, Slavic, Greek, etc. [see
>Mayrhofer KEWA, under paJca].  Compare paJcazAkha = hand.
>
>I don't see anything wrong with the old IE view.  Does anyone else?
>
>Best wishes,
>
>George Thompson
>