baj, bao, bau, bas...

[Ken Kinman]

     I wish I had a good dictionary with me, because the more I think about
it, the more I believe there is definitely a pattern here.  I think many of
these words starting with ba- probably had a common origin, meaning lowly,
on the ground, base (multiple meanings):
      bas- (Latin), bau- (German), baj- (Spanish), and bao- (various).
      Bao as a tortoise (crawler) makes sense, and bao-bao  for crawling
insects, the repetition emphasizing this (just as we might say "creepy
crawly" insects).  Bauplan (German, "ground"-plan).
      Baja (Spanish "lower") indicating "lower" crawling insects.  And as I
said yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me if many other words (including
"bad"?) have a common origin with these.  Babble (lowly talk?)
      Anybody happen to know the origins of the word "baobab"?  It's kind of
a "lowly" looking tree (it's branches often compared to roots) and
relatively close to the "ground" as trees go.
      Aren't there any etymologists or linguists on the list?  If I am
creating a linguistic "polyphyletic" grouping here, I apologize, and you can
call me a bad, beastly, base, babbling, barbaric baboon.  But I see a
possible Indo-European pattern here.
                          Cheers, Ken
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