Calaf , calamus,& halma/halm

How common is Lat. calamus? Is it a common enough word to have easily been borrowed into Brittonic?

Are there any Celticists who could confirm or refute the possibility that the Welsh, Cornish and Breton forms are cognates rather than borrowings from Latin?

I'd be grateful for comments as this relates to the possible etymology of a certain river-names.

Guto

From: G&P <G.and.P@...>
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 3, 2009 8:42:08 AM
Subject: RE: [tied] Re: Calaf , calamus,& halma/halm

> Latin dictionaries note that calamus refers to objects made of reed such as flutes etc., not to the unprocessed plant,

That is a distinction I would find hard to believe for Latin. Latin often uses the material for an object made from the material (especially, but not only, in poetry). As it happens, Calamus is used for “reed” fairly extensively. You’ll find examples in Pliny, Horace, Cato, Vergil, Tibullus,, Lucretius and Ovid, all quoted in my dictionary.

Peter