Newsgroups: alt.folklore.science,sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!gatech!swrinde!pipex!bbc!alanr
From: alanr@rd.bbc.co.uk (Alan Roberts)
Subject: Re: The @ sign: help
Message-ID: <D8EsyD.CpH@bbc.co.uk>
Followup-To: alt.folklore.science,sci.lang
Sender: usenet@bbc.co.uk
Nntp-Posting-Host: sung0.rd.bbc.co.uk
Organization: British Broadcasting Corporation, UK
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL0]
References: <3mru6k$6ba@news.cloud9.net> <D7JppM.Aqs@bbc.co.uk> <3onvps$me7@ikarus.rz.tu-clausthal.de> <D8Ctyu.C94@bbc.co.uk> <D8Du5J.Gs6@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: Thu, 11 May 1995 10:25:25 GMT
Lines: 46

Daniel von Brighoff (deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu) wrote:

: My comments are from memory, but I've deciphered this before, so I doubt 
: I'll make any egregious errors (famous last words...).

: >gyll	hazel	(no dictionary entry)

: Try under `collen.'  (The -en is a singulative ending in Welsh,
: so `cyll' actually means "hazels"; note the lenition again.

: >goger		(no dictionary find)

: This one gives me trouble:  `ger' from earlier `cer' means "by"
: or "near", but I don't know what that `go' is doing there.

: >gogogoch	(no dictionary find)

: g + ogof + coch

: g       ?
: ogof    "cave"
: coch    "red"

: `f' is a weak consonant in Welsh and tends to drop out (cf. tre, tref
: "town" and dwfr, d^wr "water").  The third `g' is the product of leni-
: tion.  Where does the first `g' in this sequence come from?  My best
: guess is that it's epenthetic, to keep the two `o's from running to-
: gether.

: >That's the best I can do.

: Ditto.

: Da

Thank you, very interesting. I'd spotted collen, ogof and coch, but your
explanatation of letter drift makes a lot of sense.

Is everybody happy now? :-)

--
************* Alan Roberts **************
* BBC Research & Development Department *
* My views, not necessarily Auntie's    *
*    but they might be, you never know. *
*****************************************
