Reconstruction talk:Proto-Celtic/loɸernos

Brythonic

@Anglom At first glance I'd think that the Brythonic form would be *loern, but the descendants seem to have an epenthetic -w-. So is it *lowern? —CodeCat 20:02, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

Yeah, I would have to say so. This is the first instance of an epenthetic semivowel breaking up a hiatus that I'm aware of so far. But I should say it's not really unexpected, I can't think of any vowels in hiatus in Brythonic at all. Anglom (talk) 22:33, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

This particular case involves a three-syllable stem with root-final ɸ. The -w- may be a leftover reflex of that consonant? —CodeCat 22:37, 20 September 2016 (UTC)