Bears and why they mostly are called otherwise

[Richard M. Alderson III]

On Fri, 3 Mar 2000, Steve Long (X99Lynx at aol.com) wrote on the subject of bears
and how they have been named:

> Being one of those who don't think that there was an any actual word for
> 'brown" in Latin or Greek, much less PIE, I'd like to suggest a much more
> prosaic scenario for words like 'bear.'

Let's all remember that the word for "bear" is firmly reconstructible, based on
Skt. _r.ks.as_, Gk. _arktos_, Latin _ursus_, etc., as *r.tkos, with the well-
known "thorn" metathesis, and that only *one* group, the speakers of Proto-
Germanic, renamed the bear as "brown one" (just as the Proto-Slavic community
renamed him as "honey-eater").

So the question that arises is not whether PIE had a colour term "brown"
(almost certainly not), but whether Proto-Germanic did.  I have no opinion on
the topic, just want to keep straight who and what language we are discussing.

								Rich Alderson