Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/weblos
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This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence. |
Proto-Celtic
editEtymology
editUnknown; see reconstruction notes.
Noun
edit*weblos m
Inflection
edit| Masculine o-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | dual | plural | |
| nominative | *weblos | *weblou | *webloi |
| vocative | *weble | *weblou | *weblūs |
| accusative | *weblom | *weblou | *webloms |
| genitive | *weblī | *weblous | *weblom |
| dative | *weblūi | *weblobom | *weblobos |
| locative | *weblei | *? | *? |
| instrumental | *weblū | *weblobim | *weblūis |
Reconstruction notes
editThe core of this etymon, Proto-Brythonic *gweβl, is securely reconstructed. However, the question of which Irish words that the Brittonic words should be compared to is mired in long-standing controversy. There are two competing potential Irish cognates, each with their own strengths and drawbacks:[1]
- Old Irish bél (“lip”) is an exact semantic match, but creating a valid sound change sequence that can yield both bél and the Brittonic words from the same etymon is next to impossible.
- Old Irish Febal (“the River Foyle”) is a simple phonetic match to a proto-form *weblos, but the semantic appropriateness of such a comparison is unverifiable. It may evolved semantically from "lips" to "mouth", originally applied to the Lough Foyle estuary before being extended to the river flowing into it.
What is known is that the reconstructions of *wo-mlū- by Koch[2] and *wewlos from Matasović are improbable.
- Koch's reconstruction has no identifiable morphological base for the prefix *uɸo- to attach to.
- Matasović's *wewlos cannot phonetically yield Old Irish bél nor the Brittonic words, since Indo-European *-ew- becomes *-ou- in Celtic without exception. One would expect e.g. **fúal in Old Irish and **gwul in Welsh.
Descendants
editReferences
edit- ^ Stifter, David (2019 September 18) “An apple a day ...”, in Indogermanische Forschungen, volume 124, number 1, pages 172-218
- ^ Koch, John (2004) English–Proto-Celtic Word-list with attested comparanda[1], University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, page 204
Further reading
edit- Matasović, Ranko (2009) “wewlos”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 419