Hualde's view

[Rick Mc Callister]

[snip]

>In the quoted passage, Hualde elaborates somewhat on his views, but the
>fundamental point remains the same.  In Michelena's view, Pre-Basque
>permitted only a single labial plosive word-initially, */b-/.  This */b-/
>develops regularly into modern /b-/, except in circumstances in which it
>becomes /m-/.  Similar remarks apply to the other plosives.

>As far as I can see, Hualde agrees in not recognizing a "robust" (his word)
>contrast between */b-/ and */p-/ in initial position in Pre-Basque, though
>his view of the phonetics is different from Michelena's.
[snip]

	How would pre-Basque have dealt with /m/ from other sources? Always
as /b/? Could /m/ have been an allophone of /b/?
	Following Theo Vennemann's work, with some feedback from Roz and
Ed, I've put together a list [still quite incomplete] of etyma with the
form *mar-/bar- etc. that seem to share the meaning "soft, smear(able)"
--mainly from the Pyrenees area. These may well turn out to be from
different roots. They may be from IE or an unknown substrate. Roz felt that
the Basque forms were not native. Any errors in copying, of course, are my
own

	*mar-/*mer-/*mard-/*merd- "soft, smear" [rmcc]; possibly
*bar/*bard- [rmcc]
	see IE *(s)mer- "grease, fat" (Pokorny smeru-); Germanic **smerwa
"grease, fat" < IE *smer-wo-; OHG smero "fat" > German Schmiere "grease";
Germanic *smerwjan > OE smierwan, smerian > English smear; OHG smirwen,
smerian > German schmieren "to smear"; possible Italic *merulla > Latin
medulla "marrow" [cw];
	see Latin merda "feces" [rmcc]; no known etymology [Ernout &
Meillet 1932:578; cit. rf]; sometimes linked [by others] to Lithuanian
smirdziu, smirdeti, v. sl. smruzdo, smrudeti 'puer'; see Gothic smarna
'Greek word' 'qui ne rend compte du d." [Ernout & Meillet 1932:578; cit. rf]
	*mardo "fat, soft" Basque [rf]; loanword or < *bard-? [rmcc]
	see Basque marda 'panza'; 'panzudo'; cuajo del ganado/caillette des
animaux ruminants; estomago" [rf]
	see Basque mardo 'blando, suave'; robusto, rollizo' [rf]
	see Basque mardoera 'grosor'
	see Basque mardul 'robusto, rollizo, lozano, sustancioso' [rf]
	see Basque marduldu 'engordar/engraisser' [rf]
	*mard-an- "fat thing, soft thing" [rmcc] > Aragonés mardano,
Spanish marrano "pig", Catalán mardà, marrà "ram" [wje 179]
	*mard-, *mart- "swamp" [rmcc]
	mart- "swamp, pond, pool"
	mart-, mart-in "swamp/pond/puddle thing" [rmcc] > "pond bird, swamp
bird, puddle bird" [rmcc, tv] > Basque, English, French, German martin,
Spanish martín --used in various bird names, i.e. "pond bird, swamp bird,
puddle bird", note Basque /m/ < /b/ [tv96: 132]; Basque loanword [rf]; -in
< ? diminutive [rmcc]
	*mard- > *bard "mud, swamp, pond" [rmcc]; note /m/ < > /b/ occurs
in Celtic [rmcc]
	bardo Aragonese, Gascón bard, Spanish barro "mud"; pre-Latin
substrate [bc 239, wje 179]; Basque loanwords having to do with "mud" [rf?]
	see Basque dialectal bartale "mudhole, mud puddle" [tv96: 134];
Basque loanword [rf]
	see Basque dialectal parta "pool, puddle, swamp" [tv96: 134];
Basque loanword [rf]
	see Basque barta, bartha "mud, muck" [tv96: 134], Basque loanword [rf]
	see Basque parta "thick mud, mud puddle, pool, swamp" [tv96: 134];
Basque loanword [rf]
	bartale "revolcarse" [Azkue ; cit. rf]; Basque loanword [rf]
	barta 'bone,fange'; non-native [Lande]; see rom. <bart, bartas;
[Lande 111 ; cit. rf]
	bartalatu 'se rouler dans la boue"; non-native [Lande ; cit. rf]
	bartale 'marecage'; non-native [Lande ; cit. rf]
	barta(a)otz 'fornication' (fig.) ; non-native [Lande ; cit. rf]
	see Spanish toponym Benibarden [tv96: 134];
	see  French bartavelle "partridge like bird" < Provençal [Petit
Larousse; cit. rf]; influenced by Latin perdix (from Greek)? [rmcc]
	*bard-ia > *bartia > *baltsa > balsa "soft, swamp"
	see Spanish balsa, Aragonese basa, Portuguese balsa "swamp,
thicket" [rmcc]; link to balsa tree? [rmcc]