Benct Philip Jonsson wrote:
> Does anyone have an idea how _Lugdûnum_ (Vulgar Latin
> /log'dunom/) could become _Lyon_ /ljo~/.
Not at the moment :)
> It seems to violate
> a number of Latin-to-French sound laws! I would have
> expected _Loudun_ /lud9~/. Based on _frig'dus_ > _froid_ and
> the usual vowel developments.
There were several other places called 'Lugdunum' in Gaul. One of them
is indeed _Loudun_; it's in in the Vienne département and in the
Poitou-Charentes région of France.
> Perhaps it is regular for Franco-Provençal?
Don't know - but clearly not every Lugdunum developed the same way,
since besides Lyon(s) and Loudun, we have also _Laon_ in the Aisne
département and Lans[lebourg] which IIRC is now a ski resort. Clearly we
are dealing with dialectal difference; we can't expect names all over
Gaul to have developed the same way as the sound changes Francien :)
--
Ray
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http://www.carolandray.plus.com
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Nid rhy hen neb i ddysgu.
There's none too old to learn.
[WELSH PROVERB}