On 2008-07-27 17:29, Joao S. Lopes wrote:
>
>
> What's the etymological explanation for Latin words of il+C, ir+C? Why
> "I" and not "U" or "E"? Examples:
> gilvus "greyish"
> milvus "kite"
> silva "woods"
> firmus "firm"
> hircus "buck"
> hirtus "rough-haired"
>
> ilvus < *ilowo- ?
The /i/ in <firmus> alternates with the /e/ of <ferme:> (*dHer-mo-),
<gilvus> seems to be a loan (from Celtic?) related to <helvus>; <hircus>
(Sab. fircus) and other "hirsute" words belong with *g^Her- 'bristle'
(as in Gk. kHe:r, Lat. e:r 'hedgehog'), accordding to Pokorny (perhaps
*g^Her-h3kW-o-, cf. hirqui:nus), so it seems that we occasionally get
(dialectal?) Lat. /i/ from *e before a liquid in a closed syllable.
Weiss says mi:lvus < mi:luus (with an etymological *i:), but gives no
details.
Piotr