Re: [tied] Lupus

In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, João Simões Lopes Filho wrote:

> There are roots *wLkWos, *wLp- *l(o)up-. Perhaps corrupted forms
> of the same, or maybe different roots mingled later.
> The usual explanation for Latin lupus and Greek lykos is
> metathesis (*wLkWo- > *lukWo-), but I suspect some dialetal
> influence.

At least for Latin lupus, the most usual explanation I've seen
is that the word was borrowed in Latin from some Oscan-Umbrian
dialect (in which concerns the /p/). The expected form in Latin
would have been *luqu- or *luc-.

Regards,
Marius Iacomi