Re: [tied] Re: etruscan

From: christopher gwinn
Message: 5511
Date: 2001-01-15

> > is realized that if Cymry was genuinely ancient, we should expect the
>modern
> > form to be *Cyfry instead (following the rule that *kom- becomes ko-
> > before -m-).
>
>Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology points cymry < *com-brogi <
>*com-mrog-;
>so, m < mb, right?

Yes, in modern Celtic languages, -m- = archaic -mb-. The fact that Cymry
represents -mb- shows that it is a late formation, post-dating the ancient
rule (which was no longer productive in Archaic Welsh) that *kom- becomes
*ko- before -m-.

-Chris Gwinn

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