On 05-01-10 13:52, Joao wrote:
> And about Latin rutilus? It seems to be related to root *HreudH-, but
> dH>t is irregular.
There are some ethnonyms and placenames across Italy, with a vague air
of IEness about them, that show the same oddity, from the Alps (if <
*h2albHo-) to Mt. Etna (if Aetna < *h2aidH-nah2). The latter, as well as
<rutilus>, are regarded by some as borrowing from Sicel (a.k.a.
Siculan), though the linguistic remains of Sicel warrant anything _but_
confident interpretation. I can't see any clear evidence for *dH > t in
the inscriptions "generally agreed to be Sicel", but then there's no
clear counterevidence either. At any rate, the Greek-derived script
employed by the Siculi has no signs for aspirated stops.
Piotr