Re: Wolf, varg

>> The ON word has relatives within Germanic, including
>> English <worry>, whose old meaning was 'strangle'
>> (OE a:-wyrgan < *wurg-jan-). It still has the meaning
>> of 'grasp with the teeth and shake or tug' when we speak
>> of a dog worrying a bone. The wolf was a *wargaz
>> ('strangler').
>
> If there were no encounters between Iranian-speakers
> and Germanic-speakers, it is a freak accident, yes.
>
> And does *w-rg- have non-Germanic relatives?
>
> Torsten

Is this <würgen> < OHG <wurgen> not < PIE *uergh "drehen"?
(cf. wurm & vermis)

(And: what a strange fitting of 'false friends'
-in German-: <würgen> "strangle, choke, smother" &
<Gurgel> "throat" < Lat. gurgulio. Moreover, when the
Goth. word <wruggo> "rope, string, cord" is also
considered: that's exactly what one needs for the
<Gurgel>, in order to get that... Würgeffekt. :-))

George

--
Ein Elefant trampelt aus versehen in einen Ameisenhaufen. Sofort
krabbeln die Ameisen an ihm hoch. Der Elefant schüttelt sich, und die
Ameisen fallen runter.Bis auf eine.Die klammert sich am Rüssel fest.
Da schreien die anderen Ameisen: "Los, würg ihn, Egon, würg ihn!"