Re: [tied] Re: Pliny's "Guthalus"

Yes, I thought about the Niemen too, given the directionality of Pliny's listing. Plus, one ancient name for the lower Oder was Ptolemy's Ouiadou(as), convincingly etymologised as *wi-adu- 'forking channel'. As for Guthalus, with a single attestation of the name and the uncertain identification of the river I simply can't propose a good etymology (<th> suggests Germanic, but the form may be garbled to an unknown extent, or reported through a Germanic medium, or whatever). Guthalus doesn't resemble "Old European" hydronyms, but I'll have a look at the old hydronymy of the eastern Baltic region and return to the topic if there's anything worth reporting.

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: danjmi

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, September 28, 2002 4:59 AM

Subject: [tied] Re: Pliny's "Guthalus"

Why look for a Germanic etymology? My Grosser Historischer Weltatlas identifies Guthalus with the Niemen or Memel. That's maybe just a guess, assuming Pliny is listing rivers east to west, but seems a reasonable one. This is getting close to Baltic territory, but anyway isn't the game with the major rivers of central Europe "Alteuropaische hydronymik", looking for a vague I.-E. meaning but pre- any known languages. Or am I forty or fifty years out of date? Dan Milton