from
http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/towel
"
\Tow"el\, n. [OE. towaille, towail, F. touaille, LL.
toacula, of Teutonic origin; cf. OHG. dwahila, swahilla, G.
zwehle, fr. OHG. dwahan to wash; akin to D. dwaal a towel,
AS. þwe['a]n to wash, OS. thwahan, Icel. þv[=a],
Sw. tv[*a], Dan. toe, Goth. þwahan. Cf. {Doily}.]
A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying
anything wet, as the person after a bath.
"
from
http://freespace.virgin.net/o.e/egd/DictionaryTZ.htm
Gothic thwahli "towel"
from
http://www.koeblergerhard.de/germanistischewoerterbuecher/altsaechsisc
heswoerterbuch/asTH.pdf
Anfrk [Altnordfränkisch?] *thwahan
Why the t- in French toaille, Late Latin toacula? Any other examples
of Germanic *þ- > Old French t- (I assume the OE forms are loans from
French, but who knows? It can't be from Frisian?
I was reminded of Flemish Doornijk, French Tournai (Flemish þ
attested as Th-).
Any other examples of Germanic *-x- > Late Latin -c- ?
Torsten