<borsuk> (thus also in Polish, beside
archaic <jaz'wiec>, cf. also Hungarian borz) is a loan from a Turkic
language (Modern Turkish porsuk -- I think originally a colour term, but Turkic
is not my forte).
<krtica> is a feminine derivative of
*krUtU, the common Slavic word for "mole" (Polish kret, Czech krt). Talking of
which, here's my favourite Czech exercise for effete Westerners who have
forgotten how to trill their r's -- Jarek Nohavica's "Metro pro krtky" ("An
underground train for moles"):
Prvá, druhá, tr^etí, čtvrtá,
na zahrade^ krtek vrtá,
drápy má jak
vývrtky,
vrtá metro pro krtky.
Refrain: Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, ...
It's about a little mole (krtek) boring a
subway tunnel in the garden with its "claws like drills".
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 5:14 PM
Subject: Object [tied]. Etymology borsuk, krtica
Hi,
Why did Russians call the badger borsuk, and why
did the Serbs call the mole krtica ?
Can you help ?
Anticipated
thanks
Michel
Your
use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.