Re: Indo-European Linguistics: Backwards

>
> *kWekWlos 'wheel' is a difficult word. The Indo-European, Semitic
> (stem _glgl_) and Sumerian (_gi(r)gir_) words for 'wheel' are very
> similar and all feel like native formations rather than

loanwords.

> However there similarity seems to be an outrageous coincidence.
> Presumably at most one is truly native, and the others reflect
> nativising folk etymology.
>

cf.
http://home.att.net/~lvhayes/Langling/Glossary/Glospag1/glosf005.htm
http://home.att.net/~lvhayes/Langling/Glossary/Glospag1/glosf006.htm

Kartvelian has a similar reduplicated root for wheel, and cf. Basque
ma-kur "bent" and -bil/-pil "wheel". One gets the distinct
impression of a "global loanword" connected with the invention of
the wheel.


Torsten