Ther Beaver and Its Teeth (Origin?)

<<Shouldn't that be beer > beaver?
Torsten>>
More like liquid-lover > beaver > imbiber > beer.
Thus, buck teeth > bucky > bock beer :)

Actually, beavers are not as apparent in the wild as their work is. Those
familiar with beavers in North America know that you recognize it's presence
by the logging it does with its mighty incisers and the dams it builds with
those chewed down logs. And that makes up its food too. NO OTHER ANIMAL
DOES THIS.

As far as the fur trade goes, what was standard about beaver pelts was
keeping the head and skull on to authenthicate the fur. What has always been
highly identifiable about the beaver is of course it's teeth. (Muskrats,
otters, minks, etc -- along with birds and fish -- all go "splash" when they
jump in the water.)

If our ancestors were smart enough to give these animals and their
by-products names that truly distinguished them (instead of calling them
something dumb, like brown) then the manifestations of the beaver would all
point to chewing-up and teeth.

Given that, the best candidate might be: Greek <bibro:sko:> means to eat up,
chew up; in its passive forms, e.g., <bebro:oetai>, <bebro:menoi>, something
that is eaten, gnawed or chewed up.

There are lots of similar words that would remind us of the beaver, its teeth
and what it most characteristically does with them --- <brucho:> and <bruko>
means to chew, to gnaw, to grind, to eat noisily. <bruchetos> is chattering
of teeth. <bruche:>, gnashing of teeth. <bebro:thois>, chew up

So, if the beaver's name did not exist in *PIE as such, but circulated later
as a fur trade word from the Greek -- emphasizing that outward uniqueness of
the beaver is its teeth -- in which both the fur and the castors of the
animal would have had great value, then perhaps we don't have to look for
brown or splash!!! as the origin of the word. Do the sound changes conform
to the word spreading by international trade? How do earlier sound changes
(or later) affect words after the fact in international trade? I imagine any
proper analysis of words purporting to be from *PIE would want to ask that
question -- so that somewhat opaque loans don't pass for genetic descent.

Steve