28-06-03 21:29, Daniel J. Milton wrote:
> By any chance, does this have to do with the subject under
> discussion?
> MOGUL A small hard mound or bump an a ski slope. (Probably of
> Scandinavian origin, akin to Old Norse 'mu:gi' "heap")
> Dan
The OED derives it (with a question-mark) from "S. German dial. <mugel>,
<mugl>" (also meaning 'a bump on a slope'). *mu:gan- 'heap, stack, pile,
hillock' is attested in NW Germanic (<mow> in English dialects, plenty
of evidence in Scandinavian), and <mugel> does look like a southern
German diminutive from a base that no longer exists in the language.
Coincidence just happens. In the urban dialect of Poznan, Poland, the
word <gemyl/a> means 'rubbish heap'. It isn't a metathesised Thracian
word, however, but a recent borrowing from German (<Gemülle>).
Piotr