Similarly, we have Eng. frog < OE frocga
(beside forsc, frox < *frosc < *frux-ska-z) as well as stag < OE
stacga, of which the latter at least is not unclean. The pattern is
characteristic of hypocoristic derivatives including abbreviated forms of proper
names (Offa, Otto, Sicco, etc.). <frocga> is surely the diminutive of
<frox>, but since there seems to be no obvious prototype for *docga (which
appears only once in an 11th-c. gloss as gen.pl. docgena 'canum'), we should
consider the possibility that it originated as a conventional name for a dog in
OE, and may have no proper etymology. <pig> is not attested before the
13th century, nor is <hog> before the 14th, and they aren't even common
Germanic.
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 1:47 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: Let dogs and pigs have their way too
ODEngEtym: pig
...ME pigge < OE *picga, *pigga, of
similar formation to *docga "dog" ... connexion with synon LG, early Du. bigge,
big, MDu vigghe, cannot be made out...
So both unclean SE Asian animals
have a sonder-English name,
similarly derived, for whatever reason.
Substrate? But what?