Re: 'Dug' from PIE? (was: Rg Veda Older than Sanskrit)

On 2008-04-20 21:59, Brian M. Scott wrote:

> OE had all sorts of geminates. This particular one,
> however, is a problem. And do note that I'm specifically
> addressing Patrick's proposal, *not* casting about in search
> of an etymology. (Yours is a non-solution to the more
> general problem anyway: at this point, at least, it's just a
> fancy way of saying 'We don't know where this came from'.)

If one desperately needs an etymology extending beyond Early Modern
English, a borrowing from Scandinavian (dæggja- 'suckle' = Goth. daddjan
< *ðajja-, from the causative of *dHeh1i-) is a thinkable starting
point. To be sure, no *deggen is attested in Middle English and it isn't
clear what analogical process could have produced dug(*ge) as a deverbal
noun, but for all its weaknesses it still looks more promising that a
*dHeugH- connection.

Piotr