where a similar combination of consonants can be traced as in the word смерть: с=s-
mobile, mrd = мрт. According to the observations of linguists, it is the mouth/gorge
that is originally the place of ruin. Ruf (m) means ‛cry; call; fame’. Initially, this word
apparently had the form of rhu that could transition into ruh. H → f, where f is the
result of the strengthening and the autonomization of the aspirate, cf. the Russian
ругать and рыгать, изрыгать. The mouth correlates not only with the place of ruin,
with harm and evil, but it is also an organ of speech and the speech as such (product).
It can be assumed that participation is a cognitive feature testifying in favour of the fact
that the primordial ethnos had at its disposal no more than one word. Using that word,
it (in a participatory way) covered all its spiritual and physical "domains" (the idea of
N. Y. Marr). Representatives of different ethnic groups conducted the process of
communication according to the following pattern: x (A) is A, where x (A) is the name
of the object by one group, while A is the name of the same object by another group of
people. Consequently, the word Ruf in the meaning of ‛mouth’ carries the same
semantic load as does the word Mord in the same meaning of ‛mouth’. Our study makes
it possible to conclude that it is the ‛mouth’ that is the semantic foundation of the terms
Rufmord (m), i. e. ‛discrediting, malicious slander’, and Rufmörder (m), i. e.
‛slanderer’.
Untersuchung (f) means ‛research’, ‛inspection’, ‛investigation, inquiry’,
‛examination’ [8, p. 488]. Die Untersuchung ist in verschiedenen Rechtsbereichen
bedeutsam [9, p. 427]. ‛Investigation is important in various branches of the law’. The
etymological dictionary of the German language contains the following data: the Late
Middle High German untersuochunge>, the Middle High German suochen, the Old
High German suohhen, the Gothic sōkjan, the English to seek, the Swedish söka
meaning ‛to be on the trail, to track down’ [10, p. 828].
Let us examine the prefix Unter- of the above word. The following data is cited
in the Duden dictionary: the Middle High German under, the Old High German untar,
the Gothic undar, the English under, the Swedish under in the meaning of ‛под’ [10,
p. 882]. In the opinion of V. V. Levitskiy, unter dates back to the German reconstructed
form of *unđar meaning ‛внизу’ [13, p. 575]. The etymological studies by N. A.
Lutsenko of the lexical unit низ suggest that "this word not only semantically dates
back to ‛foot’, but is also a phonetic relative of the word нога" [4, p. 138]. ‛Foot’
represents the meanings of ‛darkness’ ~ ‛hind part’ and ‛darkness’ ~ ‛bottom’. It is
possible that unter meaning ‘под’ correlates with ‘foot’, ‘bottom’.
According to the etymological dictionary of the Germanic languages, in the
second part -suchung of the above word, such- dates back to the Germanic roots *sōk-
/ sak- meaning ‛to search’ [13, p. 496]. Let us try to explain the possible
transformations in the above-mentioned root. According to the second Germanic
consonant shift, the Germanic k could become the High German ch. Changes took
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