Re: P versus Q Celtic
| From: | Ben Poplawski <thebassplayer@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, September 26, 2004, 6:05 |
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On Sat, 25 Sep 2004 20:35:11 -0700, bob thornton <arcanesock@...> wrote:
>What is the difference between P and Q Celtic languages? Did one group
undergo different sound changes? Different grammatical changes? A
combination of the two?
There might be (and probably are) other differences, but the P vs. Q
reference concerns the descent of the PIE labiovelar. You have in Latin
kw-->qu, Germanic kw-->hw, but Celtic languages took one of two approaches.
Some did kw-->q (still a labiovelar, for similar use see Tolkien's "Qenya
Lexicon") while others did kw-->p.
To bring up Tolkien again, Sindarin was to Quenya as P Celtic was to Latin.
Contrast 'quette(?)' and 'peth' "word", for example.
Ben