section_path: Name and etymology/Etymology/Early history of etymological approaches
section_name: Early history of etymological approaches
paragraph_text: Early history of etymological approaches
  
  In the 1st century AD, Strabo suggested that its stem formed a name previously borne by slaves: Greek Daos, Latin Davus (-k- is a known suffix in Indo-European ethnic names). In the 18th century, Grimm proposed the Gothic dags or "day" that would give the meaning of "light, brilliant". Yet dags belongs to the Sanskrit word-root dah-, and a derivation from Dah to Δάσαι "Daci" is difficult. In the 19th century, Tomaschek (1883) proposed the form "Dak", meaning those who understand and can speak, by considering "Dak" as a derivation of the root da ("k" being a suffix); cf. Sanskrit dasa, Bactrian daonha. Tomaschek also proposed the form "Davus", meaning "members of the clan/countryman" cf. Bactrian daqyu, danhu "canton".