सानु

Unknown. The declensional paradigm continues Proto-Indo-European **sónu ~ **snéw-s; compare दारु॑ (dā́ru).

• No Indo-European cognates are widely accepted; Szemerényi suggests Ancient Greek νῶτον (nôton, “back”) but this is uncertain.
• The Uṇādisūtra ties the word to the root सन् (san, “to gain, acquire”), but this is etymologically implausible.

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /sɑ́ː.nu/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /s̪ɑː.n̪u/

सानु॑ • (sā́nu) stem, n or m

1. summit, peak, ridge (e.g. of a mountain)
   • c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE, Ṛgveda 1.54.4:

     त्वं दि॒वो बृ॑ह॒तः सानु॑ कोप॒योऽव॒ त्मना॑ धृष॒ता शम्ब॑रं भिनत् ।
     यन्मा॒यिनो॑ व्र॒न्दिनो॑ म॒न्दिना॑ धृ॒षच्छि॒तां गभ॑स्तिम॒शनिं॑ पृत॒न्यसि॑ ॥

     tváṃ divó bṛhatáḥ sā́nu kopayóʼva tmánā dhṛṣatā́ śámbaraṃ bhinat.
     yánmāyíno vrandíno mandínā dhṛṣácchitā́ṃ gábhastimaśániṃ pṛtanyási.

     • 1890 translation by Ralph T. H. Griffith

       The ridges of the lofty heaven thou madest shake; thou, daring, of thyself smotest through Ṣambara, When bold with gladdening juice, thou warredst with thy bolt, sharp and twoedged, against the banded sorcerers.

2. back (of an animal)

• Dardic:
  • Dameli: (san, “hill”)
  • Kalasha: (sun, “high hill, hill pasture”)
• Pali: sānu