A Note on Beavers

[Rick Mc Callister]

Here are some other possibilities along a similar semantic line in Spanish.

broca "embroidery hoop, type of nail, etc."
	1350 "sharp object, barbed object" [Corominas 1980]
	< Catalan broca [Corominas 1980]
	see Portuguese broca "drill, drill bit"
	< ? Celtic [Corominas 1980]
	< Latin < Celtic word for "pointed tool or weapon head"
	[Partridge 1958: 60]
	see Medieval Latin brocâre "to prick" < Celtic [Partridge 1958: 56]
	see Celtic brûko < *bruk-, *brak-, *brek- "to break"
	[Partridge 1958: 59]

broche "brooch", "stuck-up, aloof with equals & sycophantic to superiors
	(Costa Rica)"
	1633 [Corominas 1980]
	< French broche "jewel" [Corominas 1980]
	see Portuguese broche "brooch, clasp, stud"
	see broca "reel, drill" [Corominas 1980]
	< ? Celtic [Corominas 1980]
	see Vulgar Latin *brocca "spike, horn, tap" [Random House 1973: 171]
	see Medieval Latin broca [Random House 1973: 171]
	see Latin brocchus, broccus "bucktooth" [Random House 1973: 171]

brocheta "skewer"
	see French brochet "pike" [MacBain]
	see French broche "cooking spit" < Gaulish [wde 188-89]
	see Gaelic broc, Irish, early Irish brocc; Welsh, Cornish, broch;
	Breton broc'h "a badger" [MacBain]
	< Celtic *brokko-s; *bork-ko- "grey one" [MacBain]
	< Indo-European *bherk, *bhork "bright" [MacBain]
	see Greek phorkós "grey", Lithuanian berszti, English bright [MacBain]
	see French broche < Latin *brocca, "a spike, a spit"
	< Latin broccus "bucktooth, bucktoothed" [MacBain]
	see English broach, brooch [MacBain]
	see Greek brúkô "bite" [MacBain]
	Gaelic broc originally "biter, gripper" [MacBain]
	see Russian barsúku, Turkish porsuk, Magyar borz; or *brokko-s,
	< *bhrod-ko-s, Sanskrit bradhná "dun" [Bezzenberger cit. MacBain]
	see Latin broccus, brocchus "buckteeth" [Ernout & Meillet 118]
	< ? [Ernout & Meillet 118]
	see Roman surnames Brocchilô, Broccus, Brocchius, Broccgiânus,
	 Brocchîna, Brocchilla [Ernout & Meillet 118]

bronco "rough, rude, harsh. hoarse"
	1490 "piece, cut branch", "knot in wood" [Corominas 1980]
	see Portuguese bronco "coarse, stupid, dull"
	< Latin vulgar *bruncus [Corominas 1980]
	< broccus "sharp" + truncus "log" [Corominas 1980]
	see English branch [rmcc]

	perhaps from IE *bhrei, *bhri: "to cut, break" [Watkins (AMH IE
Roots) 1985: 9]
	BUT, of course IE /bh/ is supposed to go to Greek /ph/
	Any chance the Greek forms are loanwords from another IE language?

>Boy, beaver just doesn't seem to be a good candidate for a PIE word.
>Especially if it's supposed to come from something like "reddish-brown".
>You'd have to carry a Pantone color ring around in the woods with you to tell
>reddish-brown animals apart.  And what was unique about the beaver or the
>beaver's fur was not it's color, which is variable.

>There seems to be an extremely transparent meaning in Greek that would be
>hard to miss if it wasn't assumed the word was PIE.  <brucho:> and <bruko>
>means to chew, to gnaw, to grind, to eat noisily.  <bruchetos> is chattering
>of teeth.  <bruche:>, gnashing of teeth.  <diabro:sis>, eating through,
>chewing, erosion.  <diabro:ma>, that which is eaten through.

><bibro:sko:> means to eat up, chew up; in its passive forms, e.g.,
><bebro:oetai>,  <bebro:menoi>, something that is eaten, gnawed or chewed up.
><rhiza bebro:menoi> is, e.g., "worm-eaten."  (The <bi-/be-> prefix might also
>be considered causal  - e.g., bibazo:, bebaioo: < baino:.)  Also related are
><bebro:thois>, chew up; <brugde:n>, with clenched teeth.  <bruchiao:> is
>chatter or some related defect of speech.

>If there's anything about a beaver in living form, it's them mighty incisors
>and the work they do.

[snip]

Rick Mc Callister
W-1634
Mississippi University for Women
Columbus MS 39701