Talk:bouc

Etymology

I reverted the well-written etymology for a few reasons. First, it contains beneficial information, which I plan on incorporating, and follows closely the Etymology given by the Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales, a source I refer to incessantly.

I often see the Celtic origin for 'bouc', but more often cited is the Germanic (Frankish or Old High German). It can, and probably is, some of both, but the Gaulish origin is speculative; the Frankish (OHG) is without doubt. However, the attestation of the Catalan form in 1249 is very late for it being Celtic, the Ibero-Celtic languages having been replaced by Latin centuries before. Also, Aragon and Catalonia were regions with sparse to no Celtic settlement, the Ibero-Celts being located in North-Western areas of the peninsula, not in the east.

Additionally, Catalonia and neighboring Aragon were once Frankish owndoms (Spanish March), so the attestation of those forms, especially that of the Catalan, leads me to conclude a Frankish, or possibly Old French, origin for those respective words. Same for the Northern Italian, Swiss French and Middle Latin, which probably picked the word up from Old French (as was wont in those days). Leasnam 21:10, 30 June 2010 (UTC)