>Little wonder, given that Attila is known to all by his
>Gothic nickname, and the only "Hunnish" word we know
>(also thanks to Priscus) is most likely Gothic as well.
>
>Piotr
But it could've been that Goths borrowed it from
Old Turkish, where <atila> can also be interpreted
as a diminutival for <ata> "father." (On top of that,
one can even speculate on a relationship <Atilla>
and <Itil, Adil, Atel> "Volga; river;" also cf.
the Protohungarian notion <Atelkuzu,> where only
<kuzu> might have been Hungarian (today <köz>)
"between," and where <Atel> might have meant
"rivers".) (In modern Hungarian, "father" <atya>
[OtjO], [tj] being a 100% palatal [t] as in Slovak
Bata (the shoe industry mogul).)
George
NB: In OHG and MHG: Atli, Etzel & the like.
(also cf. Nibelungenlied)