Re: Germanic 'bear'

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

>
> > Possibly these words could be analized as a prefix **dV-* plus a

root

> > **lVk-* which I guess corresponds to the one reconstructed by
> > Mallory & Adams as **lo:k´-* 'weasel' and ultimately related to
> > PAustro-Asiatic **rO:k* 'squirrel'.
>
> And I much prefer comparison with Slavic *tlaka (~ *dlaka, *klaka)

'fur,

> pelt, coat of hair', *vIlko-dlakU 'werewolf' (literally 'wolf-coat').
>

I agree on that relationship, but IMHO the Slavic word underwent a
semantic shift, because it's patently clear from 'werewolf' and Baltic
'bear' that this root designated some kind of carnivore.

> Mallory and Adam's *lohk^- is reflected in Balto-Slavic as Latv.

luo:ss,

> Pol. l/asica 'weasel'. Neither the vowel nor the final stop matches

the

> Baltic 'bear' word>
>

As this is a **long-range** etymology, it involves a less degree of
certainity than the proposed relationship between the BS word and the
others I mentioned before.