Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...> wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Aug 1999 19:20:57 +0100 R G Roberts <rgroberts@...>
> writes:
> >In English initial "n" followed by "o" has been assimilated into the
> >precedinmg article e.g. orange orig. norange onion orig. nonion
'Nonion' I don't know about. 'Norange' is from Arabic 'naranj'
(more or less), whence Spanish 'naranja'.
> It also goes the other way.... "an ick name" >> "a nick name".
>
It was 'eke name'. You also have 'an umpire' from French _non-per_
(or something of the sort, meaning 'non-peer'). And 'a newt'
from 'an ewt'.
--Pablo Flores