Re: Germanic 'bear'

W dniu 2012-03-04 15:13, Brian M. Scott pisze:

> Not if it were a taboo replacement, 'the brown one'. Mind
> you, I prefer the derivation that makes it cognate with Gk.
> θήρ (the:r) and Lat. ferus, but that doesn't change the fact
> that such a replacement is possible.

And indeed descriptive epithets completely replaced the inherited 'bear'
word in the languages of IE groups whose familiarity with the animal was
surely as intimate as that of the Germani. It became 'the shaggy one' to
the Balts and 'the honey-eater' to the Slavs. Whether actual taboo or
hunters' slang (which may be the same thing), such replacements are
commonplace.

Piotr