The EIEC is actually rather inconsistent: *perk^ 'dig' (= Pokorny's
*perk^- [3] 'dig out, furrow') does not occur under "dig" or anywhere
else in the encyclopaedia except for the "pig" entry, whereas the
colour term *perk^- has an entry for itself and is also discussed
under "color":
"A root *perk^- is applied to a variety of variegated beings, e.g.
Lat porcus 'perch [??? P.G.] or piglet'..."
The reconstruction of *perk^- 'dig out' is based on Germanic
*furho: 'furrow', Lat. porca 'balk, ridge between two furrows', and
Celtic *rica 'furrow', all of which point to *pr.'k^-ah2; however,
the hypothetically underlying verb is not plausibly attested and it's
possible that the 'furrow' words themselves derive from *perk^-
'streak, mark with different colours'. Of course the longitudinal
striping of (wild or primitive domestic) piglets could also be
described as furrow-like.
Piotr
--- In cybalist@..., CeiSerith@... wrote:
> In a message dated 10/28/2002 10:04:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> jodan99@... writes:
>
>
> > 2) I remember to have read in some book that *pork^os < *perk^-
"to dig"
> >
>
> That's roughly what the Encylopedia of Indo-European Culture
says: "From
> *perk^- 'dig/root up the earth,' i.e., *por'k^os would be an agent
noun,
> i.e., 'one who roots.'"
>
> David Fickett-Wilbar