Blair Collection > Archaeologia Britannica, giving some account additional to what has been hitherto publish'd, of the languages, histories and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain

TIT.I. COMPARATIVE ETYMOLOGY.
Obs. XIX. Chance Of
The Labial Letters
p. B. F. (or?h.) V. M.
^ol. Ma^Sm; Lat. Plumbum,Gr.
M.At/JJi; i Fr. Pouil, Ir. Miol; W.
Paflrun; Ital. Mazza,^<:.
v?«i I was further -wiUing tofuppofe
that by the Jhne Accident, f^f Weldi
■mord Pryd, the Mind ; was changd
by the Cornifll into Brez ; our Qbfo-
lete Paft \_-whence Paftun ] a Club,
into the Irifh Bat, and the ILatin
Fuftis;& Pen, a Head, to Finis.
Pinkin, A Sprig, into the Irijh Be-
anpan; Pally, to refufe into their
Faillie; The Latin ViT^i\\o,and our
Pelle, into their Feleacan ; and our
Put, any fl^ort Truncheon, &c. into
their fNlut. Nor needes there be much
fcruple to allow Jiich a Corruption of
the Initial Letters ; feeii/g ther's no
7iiore herei?! requir'd than -what toe
are fure has beevdotie (provided that
be allow d a Corruption) by the Ita-
lians and Spaniards, in the Termi-
nation : For we fee that in the Sin-
gular Number, they have Confin'd
the Latin Nouns to the Ablative
Cale; calling a Horfe, ex.gr. Ca-
vallo ; a Bull, Toro ; an Ox , Bue
& Bove ; a Hog, Porco 6c Puerco.
5o Jupiter, Giove; Venus, Venere-,
Aries, Ariete ; Canis, Cane, &c.
Ajidin the Plural, the Italians have
commonly aim'd ( Notwithjfanding
their being fi often befdesthe mark )
at the Nominative Cafe, whence
Cavalli, Hor/w; Vorci, Hogs; Ca-
valle, Mares; Capre, Goats, 6cc.
and the Spaniards have made Choice
of the Accufative ; frying Cavallos,
Porcos, Yeguas, Cabras. But to re-
turn to ourpropos'd method.
P chang'dinto K C or Q:_
It's very Remarkable, that there
are farce any words in the Irifh [he-
fides what are borrow' d from the La-
tin orfome other Language) that be-
gin with V.info much that in an An-
cient Alphabetical Vocabulary , 1
have by me, that Letter is omitted;
and 710 kfs obfervable that a confi-
derable number of thofe words whofe
Initial Letter it is, in the Britifli j
begin in that Language t»ith a K. or
( as they conflantly write) C. as part-
ly appears by the following examples
W.Paul, A Pole or Stake; Ir Kual.
\V. Peth, AThing ; alfo a Part or
Share; Some,8iC- h.K.od,Kodi
Kayd.
W. Pa? Ji'^hat? Ir. Ka.?
W. Pask, Ea/er ; Ir. Kafg.
Corn. Pencas, IVhitfon-Tide ; Ir.
Kinkis.
W. Peifwin, Chaff; Ir. Kaithfloan.
W.Pefu;^, A Cough; Ir. Kala^jd.
W. Pen, A Head ; Ir. Keann.
W.Puy ? Who ? Ir. Kia.
W. Puylh, Sejife or Meaning; Ir.
Kial
W .Vhm, Children ; Ir. Klann, &
Kland.
S. W. Plvv, Feathers; Ir. Kluyv.
W. Peduar, Four ; Ir. Kathair.
W. Pymp, Five; Ir. Kuig.
W.Pair, A Furnace, d Cauldron;
Obs. XIX. Change Of
The Labial Letters
p. B. F. (or Ph. J v. M.
Ir. Kuir& Koire.
W. Pren, A Tree; ir. Kran.
W. Par, A Couple; Ir Koraid.
W Pridh,£arr/j or Clay; Ir.Kriadh.
W.Praidh, A Prey; Ir. Kreajj.
W. Pa raid ? JVherefore ? Ir.K'red
W. Pryv, AWorm ; Ir. Kruv.
W. Pob, Every ; Ir. Cca^, or jach
And femetimes i?i other parts of
the words lue fnd the fame ; as
W. yfpydhad , A Haw-thorn. Ir.
Skiatha;K.
W.tMap[M.Mab] A Son; Ir.
Mak.
The fame is obferv'd by Voflfius, in
refpefi of the Jnterrogatives and Re-
latives of the }onic Dialed. lones
(fries he) inlnterrogativis mutant
■^ m ■■<,. Ita Ku; dicunt pro '»»s ; ox«s
I pro cTtut ; xi pro ">} ; ■mm;, jytraj ;
1 a TTctra.', o^ot; ; yrvicf, i(sici ; o Tivia^t o
I )(JU5; Tra'iTJ, )(ore ; a Triri, c usTi. GrX-
cis quuque xvaf/a ell: Faba : Quin
I c^ JEolcs quoq; uti >= pro ^ teftatur
j Etymologici audor in >»'•' . Sic
1 Lat. lecur a Gr. iwa/i & Scintilla
i quafi Spintilla a f-TrjJ^^: Qer. Jo^
: Vojf. De literarum permutatione.
, Lac. Pa rce, Engl Scarce; ItalScarfo.
; Lat Sapio. Ital Saccio.
Gr. la'OT;. haz. E'juus.
P chang'd into M.
Corn. Pempas, The Fifth; W.Pym-
medh.
Lat. Scrpyllum, Ital SermoUine.
Lat. Carpere,Ical. Ghermire. Men,
Lat. Perdere, Ital. Smarrire. Id.
Gr. 'iTTitf. Lat. Somnus.
P chang'd i?ito Sh.
Sch in the It.ilian, and Ch. in the
French,<jrp accordi?ig to their modern
Pronunciation equivaleiit ?o o«r Sh
tho' in regard we frequently find the
Letters P. ajidil.. counterckangd ;
butfeldom ortiever P. andS. it may
be queflion'd whether the old Pro-
nunciationwas 7iot as x,,or the Welfll
^'WlrifliCh. which feems partly con
firm'd by the French's calling a
Rock, both Roc aW Roche.
L.PropCjFr.Prof/j. An. tPrOA;?&C.
Lat Rupes; Fr. Roche.
Lat. Sepia, Fr. Seiche.
Lat- Apium, Fr. Ache.
Lat. Spina, Ital. Scie7ia.
Lat. Sperno, Ital. Schema.
Lat. Spira, Ital. Sclera.
P. ckajig'd into T.
W. Poeth, Hot; Ir. Teith.
W. Plays, Weight ; Ir Tovas.
Ix.VolAHole; W.Tulh.
Gr. Titdtihiu, The month of Decejn-
ber ; W. Ta;i;Uedh , November.
Lat. Sceptrum, Span. Settro.
Gr. BAaa-l«, Lat. Blatta.
Gr. *«fof, Lat. Sturnus.
Gr. nigjtf, Lat. Trans.
Gr. Tf!iT», Lat. Verto.
P chang'd into V C07if.
' Amft'jKiiy Averrunco.
M.o\. KAiTus, [pro xXiTvi ; ] Clivus.
? .
Obs. XIX. Change Of
The Labial Letters
p. B. F. (or ?h. ) V. M.
AiTiis, Levis.
Tlatt, P'as.
nuTCMtSi' Vitricus.
niTKAos, yitulus.
niri.Volo, as; VoIT De perm lit. Lit.
Verpa, Vervex. Idem.
Pilus,Fi/w. Id.
B chafig'd into C or K.
W. Brith [ plur. Brithion, & Bry-
thon ] Painted; Ir. Kruithnea;;,
which fignifes alfo a Pift j fi that
a Pi(5l was no other tha?i an ex-
tra-provincial, Brythyn [ or Bri-
tanj & Breathnigh, thofe Sub-
jeiled to the Romans.
L. Brevis [ W. Byr] Gcrm.Kurts,
Bclg Cort, Ir. Ccearr or gearr.
W. & Ir. Bran; Germ. Rrah ,
whence Krafen, /» oWEngl. Hrae-
fcn, and modern. Raven. Gr. K«-
(,mr.
W. Bias [ Germ. & Engl. Grofs ]
Lat. Craffus.
W. Barny, Gr. Ke^'w But whether
in thefe words B is chang'd i7ito K
or the contrary, is left to the
Reader's judgement.
B chang'd into D.
Mr. Menage derives the Celtique
Dun, a Hill, Sec. V. Supra p. 5-
col. 3.
Lat.Gleba, Engl A Clod; Ec\g.Clot
B chang'd into F or Ph.
W. Blaidh, A Wolf; Ir. Faol.
tEngl. yElbinne, Elfs: Fxld-Ael-
binne, Field Elfs.
fEngl.Sper-habuc & Spcr-hafoc,
A Sparrow-hawk.
t Engl. Bregyd, Afraid.
Germ. Dieb , Engl. Thief; Belg.
Dief.
Germ Liebe, Love ; Belg. Liefde.
Germ. Ein altcs weib. An old Wo-
man ; Belg. Een oudt wijf.
Ger.Herbft, Harvefi; Belg.Herfst.
Germ. Korb, A Basket; Belg.
Korf.
Germ. Schreibfeder, A Writing-
pen ; Belg. Schrijfveder.
Lat Sebum, Ft.Suf
Lat. Bubulcus, Ital. B//o/co.
Gr. ©£/!«!,"«!, Lat. Triumphus.
S,^ifia, Fre7no ; BurKix, Fafiia ; B«'-
i!-i(.»>6f, Fajcinus, ' Afi.<ptXK%M> ij*-
cpr/.oupi!, &CC. This ki}id of Alte-
ration was common amongfl the
Macedonians. V. Euftath. in
Dionyfii Geogr.
The Germans and Britans ufe fre-
quently the B. where the Latins have
F. but whether of them is a Cor-
ruption of the other we leave to the
Reader's Determinatio>i.
Germ. Buch, Engl. Beech; Belg.
Buck ; Lat. Fagus.
Germ. Ein Blaalt, A Blajf; Lat.
Flatus.
Germ. [&Engl.] Gebrooken, L.
Fraflus.
Germ. Bruder, Lat. Frater
W. Bai;t; , Lat. Fafcis.
W. Brud,