> PIE *weh1wérnah2 "squirrel"
> Gaulo-Latin vi:verra
> Welsh gwiwer
> Breton gwiber
> Gaelic feòrag
> Lith. ve.verìs, voverìs
> OPruss weware
> OSl *veverIka
> Polish wiewiórka
> Czech veverka
> >
> Germanic substrate *ikwernan-
> ON ikorni
> Norw. ikorna
> with folk etymology to Gmc *aik- "oak" > *aikwernan-
> OHG aihhurno
> Dutch eekhorn
> OE a:cweorn-
I've seen many forms of this root: some are *wiwer-, *werwer-, *wer-.
Now, the Germanic form does seem to include a prefix *aik-, meaning
oak - I disagree with it being a folk etymology - which suggests
that the PIE *wih1wer-eh2 or whatever the form was, may have meant
something other than the European red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris).
I've long pondered what else could fit the part.
I was reading a magazine when I saw pictures from a humorous museum
in the Prairies (I forget which province), or gophers dressed up in
various outfits. That's when it clicked. There is a kind of ground
squirrel, the suslik (Citellus citellus), which still exists in
Ukraine and on the Steppelands and even in Turkey, and is very much
a problem for agriculturalists (as it eats grain and make a bare
patch around its settlements) and for nomads (their horses' feet
step in there, the ankle breaks and the rider is thrown. Regardless
of the PIEans' home and practices, they would have had to deal with
these creatures. It is very, very unlikely that they would not have
a name for them.
The equation of *weh1wer-eh2 with Citellus citellus would not only
clear up the Germanic prefixation trouble well, but also explain the
shift in meaning in Latin. As can be seen in North America, prairie
dogs (which are much like susliks) are traditionally eaten by many
things including until recently the BLACK-FOOTED FERRET. In the "Old
World", polecats would likely have fed on, and like the black-footed
ferrets, lived in close proximity to these ground-squirrel colonies.
This isn't to say that there was confision in the species, but the
ferrets might have been called "squirrel-eaters" or something, and
the "eaters" or whatever was dropped.