Re: SQUIRREL - *werwer- *iGwer- *wei-wer-

When I think of squirrels, the descriptions that come to my mind is: fast, small, tree-climber, hairy-tail, long-tail, red (in the case of Sciurus vulgaris), nut-eater. The root *werwer- (whatever its actual form) was applied to many arboreal small mammals, like squirrels, martens, genets, wild cats, maybe dormice. The meanings "tree-climber" and "hairy-tail" would be likely to distinguish its from rats and mouses.

JS Lopes

De: Torsten <tgpedersen@...>
Para: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Enviadas: Quarta-feira, 14 de Março de 2012 14:49
Assunto: [tied] Re: (unknown)

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Tavi" <oalexandre@...> wrote:
>
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@> wrote:
> >
> > One interesting fact about the European red squirrel is that it
> > while it may make its dray in any tree that has a hole in it, it
> > can't metabolise tannins and so *doesn't* feed on acorns and has
> > *no* symbiotic relationship with oaks (which is one the main
> > reasons why the imported grey squirrel has a competitive advantage
> > over it).
> >
> I think the association between 'squirrel' and 'oak' is possibly a
> folk etymology (actually, the most conspicuous acorn eaters are
> pigs), although this doesn't necessarily implies your proposal is
> right.

German Eich-horn "oak-horn", regularly **eixorn-.

> > > I wonder further whether Lat. <vi:verra> 'ferret' belongs with
> > > purported deformations of PIE *wer-wer-, or originated with the
> > > same *h1eigWern- vel sim., with initial /w/ acquired from
> > > <vi:vus> 'alive' (sc. 'vigorous') by folk-etymology. This can
> > > drive a man nutty.
> >
> > This won't work for Balto-Slavic *waiweri- 'squirrel', however.
> >
> IMHO the original meaning of *wer- was 'tail' (cfr. Greek ourá), and
> it's the base of the Greek compounds aiél-ouros, áil-ouros 'some
> k. of animal (wildcat or weasel)', ski-ouros 'squirrel'.
>
> Reduplication of this root in Balto-Slavic, Celtic and Latin is
> comparable to the one of *bhebhr-u- 'beaver', which in my own model
> could perfectly be a different output of the same PIE root (beavers
> also have a long tail).

How about this:
*wewr- -> *werr-,
German
wirr "confused"
verwirren "confuse",
Wirre "confusion; strife, skirmish"
http://woerterbuchnetz.de/cgi-bin/WBNetz/wbgui_py?sigle=DWB&lemid=GW23622
links it to
Latin verrere "sweep", versus "furrow"
ON vo,rr "oar stroke"
English war.

often in conjunction with
irre "confused"
http://woerterbuchnetz.de/cgi-bin/WBNetz/wbgui_py?sigle=DWB&mode=Vernetzung&lemid=GI00685
related to Latin errare

The maritime thing must have been the movement of a single oar on a raft.

Ernout-Meillet
uerrō, -is (parfait non attesté dans les textes; uerrī ou uersī selon les grammairiens), uersum, uerrere:
balayer [sweep], sens propre et figuré.
Ancien, usuel et classique.
Conservé dans les l. hispaniques M.L.9238.
Dérivés et composés: uerriculum: drague, seine [(drag)net].
...
Il y a un rapprochement net avec
v.russe vĭrxu "je bats (du grain)",
r. vόrox "tas de grain",
lette vārsmis "tas de grain battu, non encore nettoyé".
Le sens de
éléen Fερε:ν, Fαρρε:ν "aller en exil"
et le sens, plus général, de
gr. `έρρω "je marche avec peine, je vais à ma perte"
sont trop éloignés pour qu'on ose en tirer parti.

I think "wriggle" -> "going by rocking a single oar" would be a good point to start a semantic derivation for each one of them.

Torsten