"CALAF" THROUGH WELSH EYES

From: The Egyptian Chronicles
Message: 62826
Date: 2009-02-05

 CYBALISTS' RESPONSES :
 
Richard:
 
Written Welsh <f> represents spoken /v/, and derives from intervocalic /b/ or /m/ in Proto-Celtic or Latin. This makes the phonetic match poor.
 
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Arnaud:
 
LAtin calamus is a loan-work of Greek kalamos, which I suppose represents *kl.H2-mo's Arabic Q should not be PIE *k and Qalam is lacking the expected H2. The vocalic scheme a_a is kind of odd in a noun, I guess **qalm would be more native-sounding. As a matter of fact, this word qalam looks like a borrowing of kalamos.
 
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Peter:
 
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.
 
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 Guto:
 
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? Any idea whether Clt *calam- would be a robust cognate of the Gk form?
 
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Brian:
 
I note that Jackson, LHEB, uses Welsh <calaf> as an example of a borrowing of cultivated Latin usage that preserved the post-tonic penultimate syllable: Lat. cálamus > Brit.*calámo- > Welsh calaf.
 
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Ishinan's comment :
 
From all the responses I have observed so far, it is accurate to say that my suggestion has not been accepted. The majority of the members are more inclined to follow the official line; firmly believing that the Welsh "calaf" is indeed a LW from the Classical Latin calamus.
 
In addition, the discussion seems to be zeroing on the status of the final Welsh letter f "èf" and what its origin might have been,  rather then focusing on the status of the initial letter c "èc".  Strangely but not unexpectedly, nobody, so far,  has questioned if the original form of the the Welsh term "calaf"  started with a letter c "èc".  As a consequence, the fate of this initial c "èc" goes on unscathed, unquestioned and therefore is never being subjected to proper scrutiny. This inclination is depicted in the following responses:
 
As Richard puts it " derives from intervocalic /b/ or /m/ in Proto-Celtic or Latin".  Brian following the same line, alludes to "the post-tonic penultimate syllable: Lat. cálamus > Brit.*calámo- > Welsh calaf." Arnaud delved into the topic of Greek kalamos, which he supposes it represents *kl.H2-mo's versus the Arabic qalam. Emboldened, he goes as far as linking the Greek Kalamos to Proto-Altaic: *kalo.  Since many of Arnaud's suggestions are simultaneously branching into different tracks, I will resist the temptation to answer Arnaud immediately*. For the moment my aim is to stay on topic. So for the time being, I will opt to concentrate on the main aspect of the inquiry echoed by Guto's question:
 
 

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

 
  
"CALAF" THROUGH WELSH EYES
 
My mind is not preordained to blindly accept the traditional way, without proper investigation,  the attribution of the term "calaf" to Latin "calamus". Further, to be on topic and avoiding being distracted, I will set aside, momentarily, the merit or lack thereof of my previous suggestion concerning the Arabic "glf". Instead, I will attempt at looking at the problem through Welsh eyes.  
 
Hence, if we carry an investigation into the history of "calaf", we soon find out that Welsh tradition has it, that "calaf" with initial èc was an orthographic novelty introduced by Norman scribers of the Cymraeg Canol (Middle Welsh) period  onwards and not before. 
 
Prior to this, "calaf" was written "galaf" with an initial èg not èc. As a matter of fact ancient Brythonic /Welsh "*galaf"  as a term, existed in the far, far remote past. It existed before the time when Hen Gymraeg (Old Welsh) developed from the Brythonic language .
 
To be precise, "galaf", was around prior to Roman legions setting their eyes on any Celtic iron age settlements in Wales. Actually, the age of "galaf" goes back in time when the British isle was archeologically labeled: Britain of late pre-Roman Iron Age. 
 
Then, "galaf" was frequently found in compounds such as " Cangaleifon", and  "Gwyngalaf" (gwyn = white +  galaf = stalks). These were in reference to the old names of the Druidic months of August and September. These were in allusion to the whitened appearance of stalks (Cf. Gwyngalaf, another old name for the same months.) and were often mentioned in  'The Wood Memorials of the Bards'-  see "The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg"; a Collection of Original Documents, illustrative of the Theology, Wisdom, and Usages of the Bardo-Druidic System of the Isle of Britain. i.412, 416.
 
You are more than welcome to view the scanned definition from the Welsh dictionary (fig. #4 at the bottom of the web page) by clicking the following URL :
 
http://www.theegyptianchronicles.com/NOSTRATIC/GLF.html
 
 
Though it is an established fact that when Roman alphabet was introduced into Britain, c represented only /k/ and this value of the letter has been retained in loanwords to all the insular Celtic languages: in Welsh, Irish, Gaelic,  c, is still only /k/.  However, this rule does not apply here, since we discover that the original form of the term "galaf " is with an initial èg not èc. Incidentally, the Welsh "èg" dates from the reign of Beli Mawr (Beli the Great) when it was introduced and added to the Welsh alphabet, along eight other characters (these being M N B Ff D U and Dd.) 
 
In my opinion, these combined facts represent the death knoll of the prevalent argument in favor of a LW from Latin. Especially, when the term "galaf", as a Druidic term, obviously existed long before Vespasian took a Roman force westwards in Wales subduing tribes and capturing Welsh oppida.
 
The whole point of this investigation is quite simple. It gives a surety of authenticity to the existence of "*galaf" as a native Welsh term, centuries before any Roman invasion. Based on this fact, I would say to Guto: Any idea of the existence of a " Clt *calam" is definitely out of question.
 
As the ancient Druidic saying goes, "Nothing can be known of the truth save through the light which is shed upon it'".
 
I rest my case.
 
Ishinan
February  5, 2009
 
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  *I will reserve my refutation to Arnaud's points in a separate message later on. These are:
 
Pt1 : a_a is a strange Arabic scheme in a noun,
Pt2 : there is H2 in Greek, lacking in Arabic
Pt3 : I don't think q can normally correspond with PIE *k
Pt4 : His latest Proto-Altaic: *kalo link.
.