cat < ?

[Kreso Megyeral]

Kastytis Beitas wrote:

>I can propose other possible origin for some 'non-cat' cat words.
>I think it is a rather frequent case when predatory animal is named
>according its prey.
>For example, in Lithuanian:
>peleda "owl"                   <--  pele "mous" + eda "to eat",
>zhuvedra "tern on gull"  <--  zhuvis 'fish' + eda "to eat" (or edrus
>"voracious")
>In English:
>polecat or polcat at 1320 "ferret" <-- Old French poule, pol "fowl, hen" +
>cat

Typical example are taboo-words, for example Slavic medvld - "honey eater",
meaning that direct mentioning of the animal would bring bad luck.

>2. Hindi bhili 'cat' <-> Russian bilo 'thing for beating', Eng. beat etc.
>(maybe this bhili is cognate to Lithuanian pele)

Russian "bilo" is a noun derived from the verb "bit'" - to beat, meaning
that it CAN be related to Hindi, but it could be clear only if someone knew
the Sanskrit word.

>This comparison of mouse anf fly supports my hypothesis, because other
>possible meaning for 'fly-words' is a "bitter; one who bites". This fits to
>"bee-words" too: in Lithuanian bite "bee" etc. Armenian muk 'mouse' is
>similar to Russian muka "flour; what is grinded' and Russian muka
>"suffering"...

Similar, yes, but if you don't pay attention on vocal laws, showing that
Russian "u" comes from older "9" (nasalysed o), thus "m9ka".