Re: The oddness of Gaelic words in p-

From: Brian M. Scott
Message: 58982
Date: 2008-06-02

At 4:06:51 PM on Sunday, June 1, 2008, tgpedersen wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
> <BMScott@...> wrote:

>> At 6:46:24 AM on Sunday, June 1, 2008, tgpedersen wrote:

>> [...]

>>> Here are some comparanda:
>>> Jysk:
>>> http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/cybalist/message/30336
>>> NWB:
>>> http://www.angelfire.com/rant/tgpedersen/KuhnText/list.html

>>> I have peppered the various entries (from Kuhn) with
>>> what I could find in Irish, Welsh and Breton
>>> (occurrences in Breton are particularly difficult to
>>> explain as loans from English).

>> And the very first one completely misses the obvious
>> source of Irish <peacadh>, Breton <péc'hed>, and Welsh
>> <pechod> (not to mention OIr <peccad>): these are
>> borrowings of Latin <peccatum>.

> Yes, we've discussed those before, and my answer now as
> then is that a derivation from Latin is likely, but
> there's the odd chance it goes with the rest of Kuhn's
> items.

Must be hell to have to worry about suffocating when all of
the oxygen in your room just happens to end up near the
ceiling.

> For one thing, the geminate in Latin bothers me, [...]

It's the result of assimilation: *TK > KK is regular in
Latin. Weiss gives as examples

*ad-gradior 'approach' > aggredior
*ad-causa:- 'charge' > accu:sa:re
*ped-ka:- 'sin' > pecca:re,

noting Vedic <pádyate> 'falls' in connection with the last.

Brian