--- In cybalist@..., guto rhys <gutorhys@...> wrote:
> To what extent can we assume that the 'tribe' would have spoken the
same language as the hierarchy? I can think of many examples of kings
having, for polital/historical reasons names derived from other
languages, rather than their mother tongues (Alexander in Scotland,
Phillip in Spain, Edward I in England etc.).
'Edward' may not have been French (his mother tongue - well, near
enough), but at least the name was English, the language of the man
in the street in most of the territory where he was king!
Even sameness of language between king and subjects guarantees
nothing. Several West Saxon kings (Cerdic, Cædwalla) had British
names! More germanely, the compound names could have been drawn from
archaic elements. I recall a serious suggestion that the druids
preserved an older form of Celtic in much the same way as Sanskrit
was preserved in India.
Richard.