Re: Basque mendi 'mountain'

At 4:45:57 AM on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, Tavi wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
> <gpiotr@...> wrote:

>>> The British Pennines only got their name around 1747,
>>> from Charles Julius Bertram, the compiler of the forgery
>>> _De Situ Britanniae_ attributed to Richard of
>>> Cirencester. The Alpes Pennines in Switzerland, on the
>>> other hand, really do derive from Celtic *penno- 'a
>>> mountain summit; a head; a hill; an end', PCelt.
>>> *kWendo- 'head' (cf. OIr <cenn> 'head').

>> It could be added that any *really* old (pre-Celtic)
>> substratal word in *p- would have lost its initial at an
>> early date. The mountain names in question are
>> specifically Gallo-Brittonic, not even common Celtic.

> IMHO Gallo-Brythonic *penno- would only explain a small
> part of all the recorded items.

Which is a good indication that you're attempting to lump
together things better kept separate.

Brian