Editing Semele (section)

==Etymology==
According to some linguists the name Semele is [[Thracians|Thraco]]-[[Phrygians|Phrygian]],<ref>Kerenyi 1976 p. 107; Seltman 1956</ref> derived from a [[PIE]] root meaning 'earth'. A  [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]]  inscription refers to ''diōs zemelō'' ({{Lang|grc|διως ζεμελω}}). The first word corresponds to [[Greek language|Greek]] ''Zeus'' (genit. Dios) and the second to ''earth'' in some [[Indo-European language]]s.<ref>[[Slavic language|Slavonic]] ''zemlya'':earth, [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''žemýna'': the earth goddess: Martin Nillson (1967).''Die Geschichte der Griechischen Religion, Vol I''. C. H. Beck Verlag. München p. 568;</ref> [[Julius Pokorny]] reconstructs her name from the PIE root ''*''{{Lang|mis|dgem-}} meaning 'earth' and relates it with [[Thracian language|Thracian]] {{Lang|txh|Zemele}}, '[[Earth goddess|mother earth]]'.<ref>[[Julius Pokorny]].''[[Indogermanisches Etymologisches Woerterbuch]]'': root ''*dgem''. Compare ''Damia'' and "Demeter" (mother earth).</ref> Compare [[Žemyna]] (derived from žemė – earth), the goddess of the earth (mother goddess) in [[Lithuania|Lithuanian mythology]], and Zeme, also referred to as [[Zemes-mãte]], a [[Slavs|Slavic]] and [[Latvia]]n goddess of the earth.<ref>Ann, Martha and Myers Imel, Dorothy. (1993). ''Goddesses in World Mythology''. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.</ref><ref>[[Marija Gimbutas|Gimbutas, Marija]]. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=7DfI39EDbMcC&pg=PA208 The Living Goddesses]".</ref>

Mallory and Adams suggest that, although Semele is "etymologically related" to other mother Earth/Earth goddess cognates, her name might be a borrowing "from another [[Indo-European languages|IE source]]", not inherited as part of the Ancient Greek lexicon.<ref>Mallory, James P.; Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture''. London: Routledge. p. 174. {{ISBN|978-1-884964-98-5}}</ref> Burkert says that while Semele is "manifestly non-Greek", "it is no more possible to confirm that Semele is a [[Thraco-Phrygian]] word for earth than it is to prove the priority of the [[Lydian language|Lydian]] {{Lang|xld|baki-}} over [[Bacchus]] as a name for [[Dionysos]]".<ref>[[Walter Burkert]] (1985), ''Greek Religion'', p. 163</ref>[[Martin Litchfield West|M.L.West]] derives the [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] ''zemelo'', Old [[Slavic language|Slavonic]] ''zemlya'',[[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''zēmē'' from the Indo-European name *dʰéǵʰōm (earth). Semele seems to be a [[Thracian language|Thracian]]  name of the earth goddess from ''gʰem-elā''. The pronunciation was probably Zemelā.<ref>M.L.West, ''Indoeuropean poetry and myth'', p.174-175 Oxford University Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC&pg=PA174  p.174]</ref>

Etymological connections of [[Thraco-Phrygian]] {{Lang|txh|Semele}} with
[[Balto-Slavic]] earth deities have been noted, since an alternate name for Baltic [[Zemyna]] is {{Lang|lt|Žemelė}},<ref>Laurinkiene, Nijole. "Gyvatė, Žemė, Žemyna: vaizdinių koreliacija nominavimo ir semantikos lygmenyje". In: ''Lituanistika šiuolaikiniame pasaulyje''. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2004. pp. 285–286.</ref><ref>Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). ''A History of Pagan Europe''. Routledge. p. 175. {{ISBN|978-1-136-14172-0}}.</ref> and in [[Slavic languages]], the word {{Lang|sla|seme}} (Semele) means 'seed', and {{Lang|sla|zemlja}} (Zemele) means 'earth'.<ref>Laurinkienė, Nijolė. "[https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/7871 Motina Žemyna baltų deivių kontekste]: 1 d.: Tacito mater deum, trakų-frigų Σεμέλη, latvių Zemes māte, Māra, lietuvių bei latvių Laima, Laumė ir lietuvių Austėja" [Mother-Goddess Žemyna in the context of Baltic deities]. In: ''Liaudies kultūra'' Nr. 2 (2007). p. 12. {{ISSN|0236-0551}}.</ref> Thus, according to Borissoff, "she could be an important link bridging the ancient Thracian and Slavonic cults (...)".<ref>Borissoff, Constantine L. (2014). “Non-Iranian Origin of the Eastern-Slavonic God Xŭrsŭ/Xors" [Neiranskoe proishoždenie vostočnoslavjanskogo Boga Hrsa/Horsa]. In: ''[[Studia Mythologica Slavica]]'' 17 (October). Ljubljana, Slovenija. p. 22. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v17i0.1491.</ref>