Re: : Butterflies
| From: | Paul Bennett <paul-bennett@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, November 4, 2005, 9:28 |
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On Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:14:26 -0500, R A Brown <ray@...>
wrote:
> caeruleancentaur wrote:
>
>> pili-pala. This last one is a delightful word; is it onomatopoetic?
>
> AFAIK, yes. In my 22 years sojourn in Wales, it was the only term I
> actually heard in speech. Possibly the variants are regional.
>
> [snip]
>> I've saved the Latin until last. The Latin word is papilio (-nis)
>> which AHD says is of unknow origin.
>
> From which comes French 'papillon'
Maybe my brain is seeing patterns where there are none, but I can't help
but notice the "pili" in both the Welsh and Latin forms. I doubt the Welsh
form influenced the Latin, but is it plausible that the occupying Romans
helped (in some way) the ancient Welsh choose which of the myriad possible
onomatopoeias sounded most suitable?
Paul
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