The origin of the word dog is, to this day, unknown. Apparently this word, “dog”, belongs exclusively to Castilian, not being in any other language, ancient or current, a word similar in its lexical root to the term “dog.” However, as it happens in almost all facets of our life, there have been many theories speculated about it that try to clarify the meaning and origin of the word dog. Already in the edition of the dictionary of the RAE, of 1737, the idea appears that the word dog derives from the Greek word «pyr» (fire), and this etymological origin was attributed to the fact that the character of these animals is «dry and spirited”. Obviously, this theory did not convince, since it has no means of support in sight.
So where the word dog comes from remains a mystery. And its meaning tells us nothing about it. However, this does not mean that there is nothing accepted about its origin and meaning. Indeed, two theories currently circulate about the origin of this term. On the one hand, this word would derive from an onomatopoeia (prrrr, prrrr …) that was used by shepherds to call their animals. It is a common phenomenon in languages (think of the word “cack”, or the word “gos”, which means “dog” in Catalan).
The other theory places the origin of the word in a pre-Roman language. However, we have the problem that the pre-Roman languages of the Iberian Peninsula have disappeared, with the exception of Basque. In Basque, “dog” is “txakur” and it is obvious that the origin of the word “dog” does not derive from that term, so it might be thought that it belongs to a dead and unknown language.
