An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/schlucken

by Friedrich Kluge

schlucken, vb., ‘to gulp down, swallow,’ from MidHG. slucken, ‘to swallow, gulp down, sob’; OHG. *slucchôn may be inferred from sluccho, slûhho (hh as in schluchzen?), m. ‘gormandiser, glutton.’ Allied to MidHG. slûchen, ‘to swallow, gulp down,’ and slûch, ‘gullet, throat; sot, glutton’ (comp. ModHG. Schlauchmaul). The Teut. root slū̆k, not allied to schlecken, originated in Aryan slū̆g, which has been identified in Gr. as λυγ (for σλυγ); comp. λυγγάνομαι, λύζω, ‘to have the hiccup, sob,’ λύγδην, ‘sobbingly,’ λύγξ (λυγγός), ‘violent sobbing, hiccup.’ In OIr. the root appears with initial s as slug, ‘to devour.’ Akin also to Schlauch.