Re: celtic

02-10-03 19:10, alex wrote:

> So far I could accidentally gather from the information exposed with
> several
> occasions here, I retained that in Celtic , better said in the
> "P"-dialects the initial "p" was lost.
>
> Question:
> -what did happen in the "Q"-dialects of Celtic with the initial
> "q"? Was this lost too as the initial "p" in "P"-group or it was
> retained?

Pre-Celtic *p- was lost in _all_ of Celtic without exception. The change
of *kW > p in Gallo-Brittonic ("p-Celtic") was later, and the secondary
/p/ resulting from it was not lost! In the rest of Celtic old *kW simply
survived as a dorsal consonant.

Pre-Celtic *kWenkWe 'five' > OIr. cóic; Gaul. pempe, Wel. pump.

Piotr