Re: Lat. Rivus

Wouldn't the medieval spelling of "rivus" have to be either "riuus"
or "rivvs"? When were the consonant and vowel distinguished
by sharp-bottomed and round-bottomed forms? Not before
renaissance times, I believe.
Dan Milton

--- In cybalist@..., George S t a n a <gs001ns@...> wrote:
>
> >In romanian it is said that the "v" betwen two vowels
> >sincoped. Example lat. rivus>rom. râu
>
> Note it was a /w/ that vanished there: rivus /riwus/. A
> common/frequent medieval spelling in Latin texts was
> "riuus". So...
>
> >The second question is indeed nice. In romanian is a word
for
> >a small river , german "bach", english "brook" and this is
> >called "pârâu". And the ethymology of this one is in romanian
> >not latin but unknown :-)
>
> It almost certainly has nothing to do with Lat. rivus. Hence,
> it is assumed to be a substrate relic.
>
> George