Re: Basque mendi 'mountain'

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <bm.brian@...> wrote:

>
> The Irish word means both 'hill' and 'open space'. It can
> mean 'racecourse', 'assembly', 'meeting place in
> general', 'square', 'market place'. If at some point the
> emphasis in Insular Celtic came to be on the use as a
> place of assembly rather then the elevation, a shift to
> 'valley' would not be all that remarkable.
>
> > I think 'open space' is secondary to 'valley',
>
> Plainly unlikely, given the PIE etymology.
>

Not really, because this item has no PIE etymology. IMHO the one
proposed by Matasovic is faulty.

> > Given that the substrate root *pant-/*pent- is found in
> > Hispanic and Italian toponymy meaning either 'mountain' or
> > 'ravine' (e.g. South Italian pentuma),
>
> It isn't a given. There may be such a toponymic element;
> I've not checked. It doesn't matter: at best you're giving
> superficial resemblances precedence over etymological
> argument without actually addressing the latter. This isn't
> linguistics.
>
> If there actually is such a toponymic element, one that can
> be consistently identified, one should certainly consider
> what, if any, relationship it might bear to the Celtic
> words. Such an investigation, however, would have to be
> carried out by competent linguists and toponymists, not by
> an arrogant fringy.
>

You couldn't resist insulting, eh?

> > It depends on what you consider as PIE, [...]
>
> The same thing that all but a few eccentrics do.
>

You *insult* me because you're unable to refute my arguments.