Celtic Germanic relationship

[Miguel Carrasquer Vidal]

On Fri, 1 Dec 2000 01:52:23 -0500, "Brian M. Scott"
<BMScott at stratos.net> wrote:

>>> Eg., the PrtGrmc word for "iron" is a Celtic loan, as are several
>>> other terms (ruler and servant, for instance) and the form of these
>>> loans indicates that they were borrowed before the first Germanic
>>> sound-shift, since it underwent that change.

>BJE> Do these loans provide evidence for all three consonant grades?
>BJE> The only words that come to mind are *i:sarn- (iron) and *ri:k- (power),
>BJE> which only provide evidence for PIE *g -> PGmc *k.

>What about Goth. <andbahts>, OHG <ampahti>, ON <amba'tt> (specialized
>to 'bondswoman'), etc., from Celt. <ambactus> 'Dienstmann' (here with
>Latin ending)? Or OHG <Walh> from the Celtic tribal name <Volcae>?
>They appear to offer evidence for PIE *k -> PGmc *h.

On the other hand, a word like Celt. (*bhle:wos >) *bli:wos > Gmc.
*bli:waz "lead" (German <Blei>) offers no evidence for *b -> *p (nor
does *ambaktos -> *ambahtaz).

If we compare the probable phonological systems of (Proto-)Celtic and
Proto-Germanic at the time of (most of) the borrowings, we have, on
the one hand in Celtic, a system where PIE *d (etc.) and *dh (etc.)
have merged as [d] (maybe alternating with continuant/fricative [D]),
and PIE *t has acquired (judging by later Celtic developments)
aspiration, i.e. is realized as [th].  In Germanic there is still a
three-way contrast, with *d > [t] (unaspirated), *dh > [d]
(alternating with [D]), and *t > [th] (aspirated).  The final step of
the shift, frication of [th] to [T], and subsequently transfer of the
aspiration to [t] < *d and split of the [d] ~ [D] allophones, was
probably still to come.

In this situation, we would expect Celtic *d to be borrowed in
Germanic as either *d or *t (depending on phonological context), while
Celtic *t (=[th]) was borrowed as Germanic *th (> *T).

=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv at wxs.nl