Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a detailed etymological analysis of words for ‘fox’ in Indo-European (IE) languages. We argue that most IE ‘fox’-words go back to two distinct PIE stems: *h₂lō̆p-eḱ- ‘fox’ and *ulp-i- ‘wildcat, fox’. We provide a revised analysis of the etymology and relationship among the various Indo-Iranian ‘fox’-words, and we argue that Baltic preserves remnants of the ḱ-suffix found in Greek, Armenian, and Indo-Iranian. Additionally, we describe how *h₂lō̆p-eḱ- was borrowed from Indo-Iranian into Uralic and we outline the relationship among the reflexes of this word in various Uralic languages. Finally, we reconstruct the paradigm of *h₂lō̆p-eḱ- as a unique type of hysterodynamic stem, which nonetheless has close parallels in PIE. We observe that a similar ḱ-suffix is found in PIE adjectives and animal names.

Highlights

  • The Indo-European languages attest several words for ‘fox’, e.g., Skt. lopāśá, Gr. ἀλώπηξ, Arm. ałowēs, Lith. lãpė, Lat. volpēs, Alb. dhelpër, which are similar enough to have justified hypotheses of a common origin, despite the fact that not all of them show regular sound correspondences

  • 2.2 Proto-Permic *roću In Permic, we find Udmurt ǯí ći,̮ dial. ǯú ći,̮ (Besermyan) ďøśø beside Komi ruć ‘fox’, which point to Proto-Permic *roću

  • We have provided a new perspective on the Uralic borrowings that follows from

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Summary

Introduction

The Indo-European languages attest several words for ‘fox’, e.g., Skt. lopāśá-, Gr. ἀλώπηξ, Arm. ałowēs, Lith. lãpė, Lat. volpēs, Alb. dhelpër, which are similar enough to have justified hypotheses of a common origin, despite the fact that not all of them show regular sound correspondences. The idea that the suffix of *(H)rāpāćawould have been analysed as *-ća- ‘-like’ is paralleled by the derivation of Skt. lopāka- ‘a kind of jackal’ on elgr ‘elk’) / *h1lḱ-i- (> Skt. rśya- ‘male antelope’)

Reconstructing a pie athematic ḱ-stem
Conclusion

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