Opfer (n) means ‛sacrifice’, ‛offering’ [8, p. 330]. Durch das Opferschutzgesetz
vom 18.12.1986 wird dem Opfer bestimmter Gewalttaten das Adhäsionsverfahren
erleichtert [9, p. 299]. ‛Thanks to the law of December 18, 1986, on the protection of
victims, the procedure for hearing property claims of the injured party during the
handling of a criminal case is simplified for the victim of a violent crime.’ According
to the Duden dictionary, the Middle High German opfer and the Old High German
opfar are derived from the Middle High German opfern and the Old High German
opfarōn meaning ‛to make an offering to the God’ [10, p. 573]. In the word Opfer (n),
the combination of pf may have derived from the aspirated ph, so, since aspiration
could have been absorbed, the transformation of ph = p is quite natural. In Latin, there
is the word per that has the meaning of ‛through’. In combination with verbs, this
lexical unit could mean ‛to carry/to pass through something’. It is oxen, dogs, and
horses that were used as draft animals in old times. Since a human being touched
animals, then, in accordance with the principle of "a part by the whole", they were
considered part of that human being, as an extension of his/her hand. According to the
observations of linguists, the function of grasping, directing is performed by the hand
and ‛hand’, in turn, correlates with ‛mouth’. ‛Mouth’/‛gorge’ is originally a place of
ruin, death [5, p. 265]. The proof of our theory is the Latin verb perdere meaning ‛to
ruin’. Not only at the phonetic level, but also at the semantic one, the following
interrelation of words is noted: in German, Pferd (n), i. e. ‛horse’ (<‛dog’) and in Latin,
per, i. e. ‛through’. A similar phonetic and semantic interrelationship between the
‛victim’ and the ‛mouth’ can be traced in the Ukrainian language when comparing the
words жертва and жерти in the sense of ‛to greedily devour’. Consequently,
‛mouth/gorge’ is the semantic foundation of the following terms: Opfer (n) meaning
‛sacrifice’, ‛offering’, opfern meaning ‛to make an offering; to sacrifice; to concede’.
Rufmord (m) means ‛discrediting, malicious slander’ [8, p. 399]. The
etymological dictionary of the German language indicates that the word Ruf is derived
from the Middle High German ruofen, the Old High German [h] ruofan, the Gothic
hrōpjan, the Old English hrōpan, the Swedish ropa and the kindred Old Indian carkarti
meaning
‛mentioned;
famed’[10,
p.
686].
In
his
dictionary,
V. V. Levitskiy gives the restored Germanic form of *hrōp-an/-jan- meaning ‛to shout’
[13, p. 282]. The second part mord of the term dates back to the Middle High German
mort, the Old High German mord, the Dutch moord, the Old English morđ, and the
Swedish mord meaning ‛premeditated, stealthy murder’ [10, p. 539]. Please also
compare the Gothic maurþr meaning ‛murder’, the Germanic *murþ(r)a-, which
genetically corresponds to the Indo-European *mer- [13, p. 397]. The deed that in the
ancient times was called simply Mord meaning ‛premeditated murder under
aggravating circumstances’, eventually became known as Meuchelmord meaning
‛perfidious murder, treacherous murder’ [15, p. 69]. Let us examine the stem of mord,
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