Re: Late

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Marco Moretti"
<marcomoretti69@...> wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...>

wrote:

> >
> > German <Late>, <Lite> (note odd vowel alternation) "serf(?)",

known

> > mainly from Lower Saxony, ie Nordwestblock; Medieval Latin
> <laetus>,
> > thus *lait-, *le:t- (claims Kuhn). He further compares with
> > Langobardian (in Latin) <aldius>, <aldio>.
>
> Why Medieval Latin? The term /laetus/ is already attested in Marcus
> Aurelius' times. It's of Etruscan origin: in inscriptions we
> have /lethe/ 'serf'. The Langobardian item is puzzling and I have

no

> good explanation for it, but it can very difficult be related with
> Latin laetus.
>

I've seen it explained as a loan from a Celtic *le:t- with loss
of /p/ from *ple:t-.

Do you have a quote of the early occurrence of Latin <laetus>, it
would be interesting to see the geographical and sociological context?

Other than that, it's possible to fit all the facts into Kuhn's
world: an Italic *le:t- arrives in Tuscany with an Italic immigration
wave from Westphalia, and gets overlaid by the Etruscans arriving in
Tuscany.


Torsten