On 2007-03-15 21:25, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> Didn't OE already have both <boþm> and <botm>? My
> impression is that the two types haven't maintained strictly
> separate identities. At any rate, there are place-names
> that now have <-tt-> but earlier appear with <-th->:
> Broadbottom (Cheshire) is <Brodebothem> 1286.
The "hardening" of /T/ to /t/ before final /l/ or /m/ is characteristic
of West Saxon (<setl>), while Anglian is on the whole more conservative
(<seðel> etc.). Gmc. *Butma- (~ *BuTma-?) *is a difficult word. I
suppose if we start with *bHudHmó- ~ *bHudHnó- (thematisations of
*bHudH-m(e)n-, cf. Gk. putHmé:n), *Butma- is due to the pre-nasal
development of *D in the environment of Verner's Law. If so. OE botm is
the original form and ME bothem (< Angl. *boþem) might be a
hyper-Anglianism. But I'm not sure what to make of OHG bodam and OSax.
bothme, which also point to *T.
Piotr