Initial 's' in Brittonic

From: guto rhys
Message: 14181
Date: 2002-08-01

Can anyone explain why Brittonic retained initial 's' in some words while mutating it to 'h-' in others. I am aware that this change is dated to the Roman occupation in Britain as words borrowed from Latin retain the 's' (`'saeth' - arrow, 'sych' - dry etc.). It seems not to be related to the nature of the following vowel as we have 'saith' - seven < *se- and 'hy' strong/proud/rude < seg-. Do similar situations exist in other IE languages?



Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better