Re: écagne, and ConLand names in translation (was: RE: RV: Old English)

Basileus:
> On Fri, 31 Mar 2000 03:40:10 +0100, And Rosta <a.rosta@...> wrote:
>
> >2. Reading the recent discussion on Old English initial SC-, I wonder how
> >an early borrowing of Latin _Scungria_ into OE would come out in modern
> >English. _Shunger_? May the List's collective wisdom be loosed upon this
> >question...
>
> An early borrowing (7th century or so) might yield _Shinger_ (riming
> with _finger_ rather than _singer_). Maybe, with a more ornamental
> traditional spelling: _Shyngre_.
On reflection, an early borrowing seems unlikely, since the Anglosaxons
of that early period weren't yet interested in faraway places (AFAIK).
I'd guess that a borrowing would first enter English during the period of
the AS monasteries. OTOH, I do seem to recall Paul having mentioned to
me that Scungrians had early contacts with Northwest Europe, so conceivably
there might have been a much earlier borrowing, not mediated by Latin,
direct from Scungric into Ingvaeonic or Proto-West-Germanic, or possibly
Proto-Germanic. Perhaps yielding something vaguely along the lines of
_Scungraland_? Obsolete Modern English _Shungerland_?

Still, can you explain why it would be _Shinger_? That is, did we get
u > y through affection from the final -ia? And would -gria regularly
change to -ger? (I had a mere intuition that it would, but I couldn't
have said why.)

--And.