Re: Yule's etymology and IE roots (or not)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:

>
> Joao S. Lopes wrote:
>
> > Is there any etymology for English yule (OE geol, Anglian giuli ON
> > jól, ýlir Gothic jiuleis) beside *yegWH-, cf. Greek zophos?
>
> It can't be that. A careful analysis of all the Germanic material
> reveals an original neuter *jexWla- (--> Finn. juhla 'feast, fire')
> with a collective affected by Verner's Law: *jegWlo: > *jeulo:
> 'Yule-time festivities'. There are further derivatives like
> *jeulija- (m.) or *jeulan- 'Yule month' (more or less = December,
> give or take a few weeks), where the *eu is also a development of
> *exW wia Verner's Law. In PIE terms that would have been *jékW-lo-
> and *jekW-láh2. It is referred either to a rather insecurely
> reconstructed root *jekW- 'to speak passionately' or to some ancient
> contamination, perhaps involving *jeh1-ro- 'year, season' and
> *kWekWlo- 'wheel'.

The Du. gokken "to gamble" came to mind. If that and the yule word
were both substrate, might they be somehow weirdly connected?


Torsten