Wh-words

[Mate Kapoviæ]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------

-----Original Message-----
From: William C. Spruiell <william.c.spruiell at cmich.edu>
To: HISTLING at VM.SC.EDU <HISTLING at VM.SC.EDU>
Date: 2001. veljaèa 02 02:02
Subject: Re: Wh-words


>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I learned the /hw-/ forms on words like "why" and "where" as a child in
>west-central Alabama, but did not learn it on words like "whiskey,"
creating
>a sort of split (although I did learn the /hw-/ form on "whale"). When
>living for a while in the western (mountainous) part of North Carolina, I
>noticed that the /hw-/ had been retained (or reinvented?) in "whiskey" as
>well.
>
>I'm left wondering if there are general patterns of interactions between
the
>/hw/ vs. /w/ neutralization and the status of individual lexemes as
>"wh-words" vs. regular nouns, etc.
>
>-- Bill Spruiell


I don't think that wh- in "whiskey" is etymological since it's supposed to
come originally from Irish uisce "water" and not from a PIE *kw- -starting
word like why/where etc.