"transliteration " = a derived form; "occlude" = to hide from sight or knowledge; obscure

[Jonathan Lighter]

Those names seem highly questionable to me too.

The name _Avalon_ comes directly from  _(Insula) Avallonis_, AFAIK, which
undoubtedly is related to apples.

I don't know anything about _attalon_ and _afalxon_, and neither do my
favorite databases or _The New Arthurian Encyclopedia_.

Peter Ackroyd is, however, a Commander of the British Empire.

JL




On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 11:28 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "transliteration " = a derived form; "occlude" = to hide
> from
>              sight or knowledge; obscure
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Does Ackroyd, by chance, specify the language(s) that is / are the
> source(s) of _attalon_ and _afalxon_? Or is he just bullshitting,
> figuring that no one is really going to be interested in the evidence
> that sustains his claim, even though he doesn't pretend to be
> providing an etymology, merely a "transliteration"?
>
> -Wilson
>
> On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 9:14 PM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      "transliteration " = a derived form; "occlude" = to hide
> from
> >              sight or knowledge; obscure
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >  Peter Ackroyd is the author of more than twenty substantive books, which
> > pretty much shows he's smarter than I am. However:
> >
> > 2002 Peter Ackroyd _Albion_ (rpt. N.Y.: Anchor Books, 2004) 115:
> Avalon...is
> > a transliteration of Attalon, apple trees, or Afalxon, apples; the apple
> > tree was also one of the sacred trees of England.
> >
> > Same page:  "This is the first surviving reference to the occluded demise
> of
> > the ancient king."
> >
> > OED revisions almost cover this kind of  "occluded," but there's nothing
> > "fig." about A's use.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > "There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
> > Platypus"
> >
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>
>
> --
> -Wilson
> –––
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
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> -----
> -Mark Twain
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