Hamp and his dog

From: .
Message: 2370
Date: 2000-05-06

Piotr and Glen,
your discussion about the etymology of the word *kuo:n is starting to get interesting... I'm listening.
 
Glen wrote:
In fact, I have some trouble accepting
that a word for a common and anciently cohabitating animal would be replaced
so completely by a new formation. Are there examples of this process in
written languages?
One more example of a familiar animal that recently changed its name: the German word for horse is Pferd, which was borrowed from Latin paraveredus in the 6th century AD.There is written evidence for this. The English word palfrey comes from the same Latin word.
 
When I look up the etymology of some other domestic animals it seems like many of them are hard to explain - unlike family terms like brother, sister, which can be traced very far back. If anyone on the list can shed some light on the etymology of words like cat, dog, hound, horse I'd be interested to read it.
 
Hakan Lindgren