Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/līwos

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Indo-European *(s)lih₃-wó-s, from *(s)leh₃y- +‎ *-wós.

Noun

*līwos m^[1]^[2]^[3]

colour

Declension

Masculine o-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*līwos	*līwou	*līwoi
vocative	*līwe	*līwou	*līwoi
accusative	*līwom	*līwou	*līwons
genitive	*līwī	*līwous	*līwom
dative	*līwūi	*līwobom	*līwobos
locative	*līwei	*?	*?
instrumental	*līwū	*līwobim	*līwūis

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *lliw
- Old Breton: liu, liou
  - Middle Breton: liu
    - Breton: liv
- Old Cornish: liu
  - Middle Cornish: lyw
    - Cornish: liw
- Old Welsh: liu
  - Middle Welsh: lliw
    - Welsh: lliw
Old Irish: lí, líi
- Middle Irish: lí
  - Irish: lí
Gaulish: *lios^[4]

Etymology 2

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Uncertain. In the traditional view, cognate with Albanian lerë (“boulder; rockslide”), Old Armenian լեառն (leaṙn, “mountain”) and Ancient Greek λᾶας (lâas, “stone”). Both the Proto-Indo-European reconstructions *léh₁u-s ~ *l̥h₁w-és as per Matasović^[5] and *lḗh₂-wr̥ ⇒ *lēh₂-wn̥-k- as per Nikolaev^[6] fail to explain Middle Irish (Book of Leinster) lecaib (dat.pl.) primarily due to their inclusion of *-w-, as noted by Zair, who explicitly rejects the reconstruction of Proto-Celtic *līw- and opts instead for either *lesank- or *leɸank-.^[7] Note that this would exclude *lausā, *lausankā and *lawā (see under Related terms below) as formal cognates. Furthermore, Mycenaean Greek 𐀨𐀁𐀊 (ra-e-ja, “stone”) would have to reflect *leh₁- or *leh₂- without a final *-w- (or u-stem suffix); for this reason many authors reject the Greek comparison and are skeptical of Indo-European origin,^[7]^[8]^[9] though Doric Greek λεύς (leús) and the verb λεύω (leúō, “to stone”) could still be related (unless from an unrelated Proto-Indo-European *lews-), complicating the matter. Even if these “stone” words are all cognate, their Mediterranean distribution is suspicious, as is the exclusively nominal function of the root. Thus, a possible explanation for the unusual suffix *-ank- and the many irregularities prohibiting an Indo-European etymology is substrate origin.

Noun

*līwos m

stone

Declension

Masculine o-stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*līwos	*līwou	*līwoi
vocative	*līwe	*līwou	*līwoi
accusative	*līwom	*līwou	*līwons
genitive	*līwī	*līwous	*līwom
dative	*līwūi	*līwobom	*līwobos
locative	*līwei	*?	*?
instrumental	*līwū	*līwobim	*līwūis

Alternative reconstructions

*lesank(o)s, *leɸank(o)s^[7]

Derived terms

*līwankas^[5]
- Old Irish: líac (see lie for further descendants)
  - → Breton: liac'h^[5]

Related terms

^? *lausā (< *l̥h₁w-s-éh₂)
- Gaulish: *lausā^[10]
  - → Vulgar Latin: *lausa (see there for further descendants)
- ⇒ *lausankā
  - Gaulish: *lausankā^[11]
    - → Vulgar Latin: *lausanga (see there for further descendants)
      - Old French: losenge, losange, lozenge, lozange, lousenge, loseinge, losainge [1160, Eneas] (see there for further descendants)
      - Old French: Lausanne
^? *lawā (< *l̥h₁w-éh₂)
- Gaulish: *lawā
  - >? Vulgar Latin: *lava (“flat stone; lava?”)
    - >? French: lave
    - >? Italian: lava
    - >? Neapolitan: lava
    - >? Provençal: lavo, lauvo (“flat stone”)
    - >? Sicilian: lava

Descendants

Old Irish: lie (nom-voc.sg.)

References

^ Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*liwo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 242
^ Falileyev, Alexander (2000), “liu”, in Etymological Glossary of Old Welsh (Buchreihe der Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie; 18), Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 105
^ Koch, John (2004), “*līwo(s)-”, in English–Proto-Celtic Word-list with attested comparanda‎^[1], University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, pages 68-69
^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003), “liuo- > lio-”, in Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental [Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to Old Continental Celtic] (Collection des Hespérides; 9), 2nd edition, Éditions Errance, →ISBN, page 205
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*līwank-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 242
^ Nikolaev, Alexander (2010), “Time to gather stones together: Greek λᾶας and its Indo-European background”, in Stephanie W. Jamison, H. Craig Melchert, Brent Vine, editors, Proceedings of the 21^st Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference: Los Angeles, October 30th and 31st, 2009, Bremen: Hempen Verlag, →ISBN, pages 189–206
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 Zair, Nicholas (2012), The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Celtic, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 252–253
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “λᾶας”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 817-8
^ Pronk, Tijmen (2019), “Eichner’s law: a critical survey of the evidence”, in Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft, volume 73, number 1, Munich: J.H. Röll Verlag, →ISSN, page 134–135 of 121–155, example 13
^ Greimas, A.J. (1969), “lose”, in Dictionnaire de l'ancien francais jusq'uau milieu du XIVe siècle (in French), Paris: Larousse, page 374a
^ Alibert, Louis (1965), “lausange”, in Dictionnaire occitan - français : d'après les parlers languedociens (in French), Toulouse: Institut d' Etudes occitanes, →ISBN

[1] Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*liwo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 242

[2] Falileyev, Alexander (2000), “liu”, in Etymological Glossary of Old Welsh (Buchreihe der Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie; 18), Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 105

[3] Koch, John (2004), “*līwo(s)-”, in English–Proto-Celtic Word-list with attested comparanda‎^[1], University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, pages 68-69

[4] Delamarre, Xavier (2003), “liuo- > lio-”, in Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental [Dictionary of the Gaulish language: A linguistic approach to Old Continental Celtic] (Collection des Hespérides; 9), 2nd edition, Éditions Errance, →ISBN, page 205

[EDPC-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 Matasović, Ranko (2009), “*līwank-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 242

[6] Nikolaev, Alexander (2010), “Time to gather stones together: Greek λᾶας and its Indo-European background”, in Stephanie W. Jamison, H. Craig Melchert, Brent Vine, editors, Proceedings of the 21^st Annual UCLA Indo-European Conference: Los Angeles, October 30th and 31st, 2009, Bremen: Hempen Verlag, →ISBN, pages 189–206

[Zair-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 Zair, Nicholas (2012), The reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European laryngeals in Celtic, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 252–253

[8] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “λᾶας”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 817-8

[9] Pronk, Tijmen (2019), “Eichner’s law: a critical survey of the evidence”, in Münchener Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft, volume 73, number 1, Munich: J.H. Röll Verlag, →ISSN, page 134–135 of 121–155, example 13

[10] Greimas, A.J. (1969), “lose”, in Dictionnaire de l'ancien francais jusq'uau milieu du XIVe siècle (in French), Paris: Larousse, page 374a

[11] Alibert, Louis (1965), “lausange”, in Dictionnaire occitan - français : d'après les parlers languedociens (in French), Toulouse: Institut d' Etudes occitanes, →ISBN

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bānos, loukos, *windos	ɸleitos, blāros	*dubus
roudos; dergos	*dusnos	blāwos, melinos
	*glastos
		*gurmos

Proto-Celtic

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Descendants

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

Declension

Alternative reconstructions

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

References