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Posts : 201 Join date : 2010-09-30
| Subject: Etymology and related terminology Dog Fri 01 Oct 2010, 8:29 pm | |
| Etymology and related terminology Dog is the common use term that refers to members of the subspecies Canis lupus familiaris. The term can also be used to refer to a wider range of related species, such as the members of the genus Canis, or "true dogs", including the Wolf, Coyote, and Jackals; or it can refer to the members of the subfamily Caninae, which would also include the African Wild Dog; or it can be used to refer to any member of the family Canidae, which would also include the Foxes, Bush dog, Racoon dog, and others.[8] Some members of the family have "dog" in their common names, such as the Raccoon Dog and the African Wild Dog. A few animals have "dog" in their common names but are not canids, such as the prairie dog. The English word dog comes from Middle English dogge, from Old English docga, a "powerful dog breed".[9] The term may derive from Proto-Germanic *dukkōn, represented in Old English finger-docce ("finger-muscle").[10] The word also shows the familiar petname diminutive -ga also seen in frogga "frog", picga "pig", stagga "stag", wicga "beetle, worm", among others.[11] Due to the archaic structure of the word, the term dog may ultimately derive from the earliest layer of Proto-Indo-European vocabulary, reflecting the role of the dog as the earliest domesticated animal.[12] In 14th century England, hound (from Old English: hund) was the general word for all domestic canines, and dog referred to a subtype of hound, a group including the mastiff. It is believed that this "dog" type of "hound" was so common that it eventually became the prototype of the category “hound”.[13] By the 16th century, dog had become the general word, and hound had begun to refer only to types used for hunting.[14] Hound, cognate to German Hund, Dutch hond, common Scandinavian hund, and Icelandic hundur, is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European *kwon- "dog", found in Welsh ci (plural cwn), Latin canis, Greek kýōn, Lithuanian šuõ.[15] In breeding circles, a male canine is referred to as a dog, while a female is called a bitch (Middle English bicche, from Old English bicce, ultimately from Old Norse bikkja). A group of offspring is a litter. The father of a litter is called the sire, and the mother is called the dam. Offspring are generally called pups or puppies, from French poupée, until they are about a year old. The process of birth is whelping, from the Old English word hwelp, (cf. German Welpe, Dutch welp, Swedish valp, Icelandic hvelpur) .[16] Stone Veneercherry wood tv stand | |
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