No Proto-Celtic?

David L. White dlwhite at texas.net
Mon Apr 30 02:28:54 UTC 2001


> I have proposed that PIE *p appears as a voiceless bilabial fricative in one
> inscription in ancient northern Italy (from Prestino; see MSS 58, 1988).

        Just a not terribly significant note:  development from /p/ to /f/
(or perhaps a bilabial voiceless fricative) to /h/ is presupposed in the
common (though perhaps wrong?) etymology of the "Hercynian" forest as being
both Celtic and relatable to /perkun/.  In other words, it is not always
assumed that PIE /p/ in Celtic went straight to zero, though I am unaware of
it leaving any traces in Insular Celtic.

Dr. David L. White



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