I'm kinda fascinated with it myself. A big challenge in etymology is separating coincidence from meaning that comes from the underlying language wiring in the human brain. It's unlikely to be a coincidence that in most languages, the words for "mother" and "father" start with "ma" and "pa" sounds--we're probably born able to identify our parents in the same way we're born knowing how to suckle. "Mountain" and "mauna" are perhaps less compelling, less likely to be a matter of hardwiriing, but it still is possible that the sounds are artifacts of the earliest human need to communicate landmarks.
I'm on Merriam-Webster's etymology "word o'the day" mailing list. Each day they send me an email about one word, its meaning and its history. You might want to check it out at http://www.merriam-webster.com/.
--Robert
Current Events » in reply to etymology
Re: etymology