Re[2]: [tied] Re: b/m alternation in Thacian, Illyria and Abanian

At 3:52:17 PM on Sunday, March 30, 2008, Miguel Carrasquer
Vidal wrote:

> On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:08:27 +0200, "fournet.arnaud"
> <fournet.arnaud@...> wrote:

>>c^oavz^z^u "snipe" < *c^uH-
>>Cf. Dutch cuut Engl coot

> Clarification, that's Middle Dutch <cuut> (besides
> <coet>), modern koet (more usually known as meerkoet[je],
> I suppose to distinguish it from <koetje> "little cow").
> The modern form has unshifted /u/ (one would expect /u:/ >
> <ui>). My Du. etym. dict. suggests that E. <coot> could be
> a borrowing from MDu.

AHD3 also mentions the possibility.

> Personally, I think MDu. <u:> (or ME. <u:>) was not
> diphthongized here because the coots themselves did not
> shift their vowel (they still go "coot, coot, coot").

ME seems to have had /o:/: ME <cote>, <coote>. In 'þe
Desputisoun Bitven þe Bodi & þe Soule' in the Auchinleck ms.
it's spelled <cot> but rhymed with <þrote>; in LdMisc 108
it's spelled <cote>. The MED finally has <Cuytt> (vr.
<Cute>) ?c1475.

Brian