Re: proof that most etymologies are only fairy-tales

On Aug 9, 3:26 pm, analys...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Interesting, if somewhat fanciful.  This should be a universal
cultural thing in all cold climate areas which had bears back when
European languages were being formed  - so does the bear (animal)-
bear(give birth)  homonym extend to all European languages?

First I must correct a mistake. The bear in the rotunda
of the Lascaux cave is not hiding in the ground line
under the second bull from the left side, but in the
belly line of the second bull from the right side. What
I said about bears and regeneration is therefore invalid
(or must be considerably modified).

Mallory and Adams 2006 give no explanation of bear
(the animal) and don't even mention fur. So I give my
etymology. The central part is BIR meaning fur,
especially the fur where a newborn was laid on,
enveloped in to keep it warm, and also a bag made
of a hide used for carrying babies around. The best
fur, soft and warm, was bear fur, and so English
bear German Bär Dutch beer may come from BIR.
Also to bear would come from BIR, carrying a baby
in a bag made of a bear hide, then also bearing
a child (in the womb). The connection to bears was
of a practical nature, but then there might also have
been a magical component: bear mothers fiercly
defend their cubs, and so the bear fur might have
rubbed off on a human mother, making her feel
courageous and then act courageously as mama
bear. From the Vinca culture we know clay figurines
of the goddess holding her baby, and both, mother
and child, wearing bear masks. Marija Gimbutas:
"The maternal devotion of the female bear made
such an impression upon Old European peasants
that she was adopted as a symbol of motherhood."
BIR became byros in ancient Greek and fur in
English. We have English birth and born, German
gebären Geburt, and Dutch geboorte. German
bergen means to rescue and to contain - as a bag
made of a bear hide would have contained a baby,
enveloped a baby and kept it warm in the cold
winters of Ice Age Eurasia. In northwest Europe,
especially in southern Britain, the custom of
enveloping a newborn in a bear fur could have
been expanded to a life in the beyond: a dead
chieftain may have been buried eveloped in
a bear fur, and thus been placed in the ground,
or in a barrow, hence 'to bury' and 'barrow' as
further possible derivatives of BIR meaning fur.
The color beron brown and feros as wild animal
would have been secondary word formations,
the furry one being a wild animal, his fur being
brown. Now killrate my message, mob of sci.lang,
as you got no arguments to disprove my proposition.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: proof that most etymologies are only fairy-tales
    ... The central part is BIR meaning fur, ... bear German Bär Dutch beer may come from BIR. ... of the goddess holding her baby, and both, mother ... further possible derivatives of BIR meaning fur. ...
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  • Re: are El/ohim and Allah related?
    ... Of course I claim that bear and beard are etymologically ... Both come from BIR meaning fur, ...
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  • Re: Magdalenian experiment (continuation)
    ... Magdalenian BIR and English bear, ... Magdalenian BIR means fur, especially the fur ... meaning fertile. ...
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  • Re: Magdalenian words and compounds 2006/7
    ... BIR means fur, especially the fur on which a newborn ... One can then also bear the baby in a pouch ... circumference measured 30 cubits, the diameter ...
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  • Re: Bear, a Magdalenian test case
    ... Etymology of bear as the furry one, provider of the best fur, ... brown one, from *bher- 'brown', and as the wild one, ... be a further derivative of BIR, as hair German Haar. ...
    (sci.lang)