From: Joao S. Lopes
Message: 70891
Date: 2013-02-04
--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer Vidal wrote:
>
> There is Roncalese boxo "muzzle for calfs".
>
Probably a loanword from Spanish bozo, from which the form bozal is derived.I think likely a connection with Basque musu 'muzzle, lips; kiss' (with the Biscayan variants mosu, moso and Lapurdian muzu) is related to Celtic *bussu- 'lip' (Matasovic´). As usual, the etymology given by the DRAE from *bucceu- 'of the mouth' is *nasty*.> A development b- > m- in the absence of a following -n-
> would be, as Trask says, irregular, but it is attested in
> words like Lat. BACILLA > makila "stick".
>
Actually, unconditional nasalization of initial b- /B/ is quite frequent in Basque. Also makil(l)a is a diminutive form of mako 'hook; pitchfork; stick, shepherd's staff; curved', itself a loanword from Celtic *bakko- 'curved stick' (Matasovic´).