Well, nothing wagered, nothing won.
I shall give my own speculations regarding 'tyke' and 'dyke' without
further ado.
I hypothesize a PIE **dheigh- meaning 'climb'. We do not find it as an
entry in Pokorny per se but we have the s-mobile form in *(s)teigh-, 'climb',
which I would emend to *(s)t(h)eigh-.
As you know, Torsten, German Zicke means 'bitch' _and_ 'goat', which is
normally Ziege, from PIE *digh-.
I propose that 'female dog', 'young child', and 'goat', have in common that
they are all notable 'climbers': the goat in rocky crags, the female dog on its
master's legs (while male dogs cower to show respect), and young children, we
know how they love to climb anything.
As for a 'dyke', a lesbian playing the masculine role, 'goat' is
appropriate since they frequently do not bathe properly to imitate
rough-and-ready lower class men. There is nothing quite so unpleasant as an
unclean female's genital odor. Thank God bidets are finally starting to come to
America. Goats are notoriously bad smelling.
I believe 'climber' is a secondary name for the 'goat' whose earliest name
was built of the basis of *ka:-, 'intense sexual desire', and found in the
derived form *ka(:)p-ro-, 'goat'.
Now *digh- implies an earlier **deigh- since *i derives _only_ from
avocalic *y.
I will not invoke 'taboo deformation' but I think the possibility exists
that this word occurred in an IE dialect that, like Greek, did not tolerate two
voiced aspirates in the same root. If *dheigh- occurred in such a dialect, it
might have become *deigh-, and the stress-accent accounts for *digh-.
*digh-, of course, yields Ziege.
To account for Zicke, we might think roughly in terms of expressive
gemination; or we may entertain the idea that *digh could become *dig purely
internally. I will no bore with details but I believe I have discovered that PIE
final *bh/*dh/*gh, that derive from pre-PIE *P?FA/T?SA/K?XA, are peculiarly
liable to lose aspiratin, and become *b/*d/*g.
This (PIE **dheigh-, 'climb') derives from a fairly well-distributed root,
appearing in Egyptian as 'H('), 'raise, rise' (which pictures a ladder), and
s'H, 'exalt, raise up', which has a goat as a determinative. There is also
Sumerian zig, 'rise, raise up'.
Could this be a loan? Of course, but the basic word is IE, and the loan
would be from a non-standard dialect of IE not some mysterious substrate of
uncertain affiliation.
'dyke', then, as perhaps a derogatory term for 'goat', would derive from
*dheig- - another way of resolving the unacceptable two voiced aspirates.
There are so many variables here that certainty is elusive but I am hoping
the speculation may be of some interest.
Patrick
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 6:51
AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Re: bitch
Maybe you are thinking of a different message. Zicke is not mentioned in
the one you linked below.
Patrick
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 3:09
AM
Subject: [tied] Re: bitch
> > > Is this Sw. tik "bitch"?
> > > Cf.
> > > Kuhn, Fremder t-Anlaut im Germanischen
> > >
"
> > > 17. ti:k- (und tu:k-?) 'Hündin', in an. tík und
>
> > hd. m(und)a(rt)l.
> > > Zauche / Zauck, wenn aus
tu:k-.
> > > "
> > >
> > > So a
substrate word (like all roots in Germanic in TVT- where
> > >
T = unvoiced stop, since PIE has no roots *DVD- where D =
> > >
voiced stop)
>
> And so, how do you fit Zicke into this
scheme?
Yes, it does. Cf. Kuhn's remarks in
http://tech. groups.yahoo. com/group/ cybalist/ message/51569
Torsten