Re: [tied] Re: OE *picga

The root is Pokorny's *perk^ [2] (with the variant *prek^-) 'gesprenkelt, bunt'; the cognates include Lat. perca, Gk. perke: 'perch', Middle Irish erc 'speckled, dark red; trout, salmon' < *ercos < *perk^os, and a number of terms describing colours or coloration patterns, such as Old Indo-Aryan pRs'ni- 'variegated, speckled, spotted'. PIE *pork^os meant 'piglet' rather than 'pig' in general. The piglets of the European wild boar have characteristic longitudinal stripes and spots for camouflage. For all we know, *pork^os meaning '(wild) piglet' may have existed even before the domestication of swine.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: danjmi
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 10:45 PM
Subject: [tied] Re: OE *picga


--- In cybalist@..., Piotr Gasiorowski <piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
>*pork^os has a plausible IE derivation and interpretation ('a spotted critter').
I presume *peik^- is involved. In my naivete, I would have stumbled at the 'r' and thought of 'pigs' before 'porkers'. Tell us more, please!
I believe that spotted hides are found in domesticated rather than wild swine and *pork^os refers to these, but I'm not sure of either fact.
Dan Milton