> I am afraid none need this "agnellus " with the uncommon
> transformations. What about this:
> Pokorny
> 1272 me:lo `kleineres Tier'
> Specialy for sheep, there is too the Greek word "melon" meaning lamb as
> the Rom. "miel" does.
>
> About the palatal form "mniel" I wrote in the previous mail.
You wrote, no doubt about that. But this palatalization
fits the agneau/agnello thing (messrs Miguel & Marius will
mention further Romance variants, I'm sure). So, although
I'm not aware of Romanistics researchers' interpretations
re. Lat. agnus/agnellus > Rum. miel (I mean: *how* the
development is supposed to have occurred), I expect [ñel]
(read ñ as in Span. mañana) -- which is still very popular in
much of today's Romania -- to be the older variant, and (the
standard-language variant) <miel> to be a further development
of [ñel]. ([mñel] only an intermediary thing between them.
NB: if [ñ], then the native user won't need any [i] or semi-
vowel [j].)
As for your assumption above, I'd ask whether rhotacism
wouldn't have exerted an influence upon such an old PIE or
Greek word as <melo(n)>, in order to transform it in a way
similar to what happened to the words that ended up in
Romanian as <mãr> "apple" and <miere> "honey"...
> Alex
George