Bears and why they mostly are called otherwise

[Stefan Georg]

>>proto-language at email.msn.com writes:

>>A word for 'bear' might also be derived from related
>>roots meaning 'carry' or 'cut out off', and might capture of one two
>>essential characteristics of 'bears': standing up while advancing,
>>cave-hibernating.

>-- bears don't stand up when advancing; they stand up when making threat
>displays, or trying to see what's going on.

>When advancing -- aka 'charging' -- they run towards you, very very quickly,
>with a very large mouth full of teeth wide open, making distressing sounds.

>To people living in the woods, equipped with spears, "destructive one" is a
>pretty good name for an animal characterized by large size and bad temper.

Friends, have a look at some Siberian languages; the very fact that these
fellas can get *really nasty* is responsible for the fact that most people
who *really know* them   use some taboo word, lest the bloddy beast
understands its name and comes along to look at who's talking.
Zoo-goers may use descriptive names for our brown friends, forest-dwellers
aren't stupid enough to do that.

Dr. Stefan Georg
Heerstraße 7
D-53111 Bonn
FRG
Tel./Fax +49-228-691332