Re: Ligurian

From: dgkilday57
Message: 69503
Date: 2012-05-04

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Bhrihskwobhloukstroy <bhrihstlobhrouzghdhroy@...> wrote:
>
> Sorry, my fault (false friend: I have taken it from DIL, but with
> German Mädchen in mind, so I've been deceived by ingen 'Mädchen' =
> maiden in backtranslation).
> But nevertheless: bairt 'girl' : Gothic barn 'child' (I was about
> to write 'kind'!...), once attested (+ bairte), we're linguists, not
> lawyers ("testis unus testis nullus"), so why doubtful? The Auraicept
> na n-éces are after all a trustworthy source. Whence otherwise
> Continental Celtic *Bartia:kon > Barzâgh / Barzago (Lecch / Lecco
> [Lombardy])?

Whence otherwise? From Ligurian, of course, with a secondary ending from Gaulish superstrate. To wit, PIE *bHr.ti'- 'act of bearing' (Skt. <bhr.ti's.>, Av. <-b@...@tis^>, Lat. <fors> 'luck, chance', OE <ge-byrd> 'birth', etc.) regularly yields Lig. *bartis 'inflow, inlet, site of importation' vel sim., cognate with Celt. *britis 'carrying, judgment' (OIr <brith>, etc.). Retained as a local term by the Gaulish invaders, *bartis becomes the base of *Bartia:kon 'town near the inlet' vel sim. Much better than trying to explain it as pure Celtic.

DGK