--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao S. Lopes" <josimo70@...> wrote:
>
> Greek oura "tail" < *orsa:, cf. English arse
>
Yes, that's right. There's also Greek
órros 'tail, rump, base of the spine'.
> Greek aielouros "cat" < *FaiFelouro- < *Faiferouro- < *waiwero-orso-?
>
The Greek word designates the wildcat rather than the domestic cat.
Some IE-ists have linked
*aiel- <
*wai-wel- to
aiólos 'alive, quick' <
*wai-wolo-, whose second member is possibly related to
eiléo: 'to make roll, turn' <
*wel-ne-o:.
I guess the first member of
*wai-wel-/
*wai-wer-/*wi:-wer- and Germanic *
i:k-wir-na- has something to do [to be further investigated] with the IE root
*gWeih3- 'alive, quick'. This way, the word 'squirrel' would mean something like 'kicking (the tail) quickly'.