Re: CHAT: better than others (late reflection)

Steg Belsky wrote:

> Talking about "classical" empires and how they viewed their rivals, does
> anyone happen to know what the Carthaginians called themselves?  Or at
> least Carthage?  I seem to remember hearing something along the lines of
> /qErEt HadaSa/, but i don't know if that's the Carthaginian name or some
> kind of Hebrew cognate-translation.  And if it is something like QRT
> HhDShH, how did the Romans mess it up so much?
The Romans got their name for the Carthaginians from the Greeks, who
called them "Phoinikes", whence English "Phoenicians", since early on the
Carthaginians were still felt to be just a Phoenician colony.  Latin took it
without the suffix as "Poenus" (note the loss of aspiration), and due to
subsequent phonological changes internal to Latin, diphthongs in certain
contexts were reduced to long vowels.  Thus, we get "Pu:nus", where the
resulting vowel took its height from /i/ and backness from /o/, and got
compensatory lengthening from both.

As for your original point about what they called themselves, I can't find
that in any of my sources;  I'll try to get back to you on that.

======================================
Tom Wier <artabanos@...>
ICQ#: 4315704   AIM: trwier
"Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
======================================