Re: bidet

At 5:16:09 AM on Tuesday, October 30, 2012,
Bhrihskwobhloukstroy wrote:

> *paþa can (not: must) anyway have a good Germanic
> etymology, why should a borrowing be preferred? I hope not
> for the tale of the lack of PIE */b/, because this would
> be a circular argument

No, it wouldn't. The rarity of PIE *b is sufficiently
well-established to carry some weight in a contest of
competing etymologies. How much weight, of course, is a
matter of opinion.

Brian