Over there, a Greek visitant left me his input after so long (isn't the Internet wonderful?):
Dear friend,
I have read your interesting story about how Odysseus became Ulysses by a linguistic mistake. Thinking that you should like to know alternative theories, I suggest that you examine the possibility of a non mistaken change of (Δ = delta) to (Λ = lambda). This transformation of delta to lambda is used in other cases also ( δασύς = λάσιος, δάκρυ = lacryma, δαήρ = levir, Πολύ-δεύκης = Pol-lux ). This is what Hesychius of Alexandria says in his Lexicon (5th cent. AD). See also the Liddell-Scott dictionary of Greek Language for the letter (Δ, δ, δέλτα = delta).
Basil Xydias
An now, the reply: :-)
Dear Basil,
thank you very much for your input!
I didn't know those transformations were as usual as you show them, but come to think about it, it's a kind of rotation I may have seen before elsewhere*...
I haven't been able to check those sources, but I'll try to get a hold onto them, it's an interesting topic, inded!
thanks for stopping by!
It's veeeeery warm in Spain today, I'm melting, my mind is melting... My body as well, oh no!
Take it easy and drink a lot of water...
KALLISTI
* well, in arab --the thing I was thinking about--, it's actually the opposite, a gemination of the article consonant al followed by a word starting by some consonsants (dentals, alveolars and postalveolar), eg. d, for example, disappears and dupplicates the next one, eg. *al-dîni), the Sun, is actually ad-Dîni. I haven't been able to find an "antigemination" transformation, but it's obviously there, at least in Greek->Latin assimilation. The other languages I know of don't show something similar that I can think off, I'll have to undust my Sumerian, but I don't recall anything lika that, either... :-P
PS- I made this front page because who's gonna read that story nowadays twice, to check any later replies? I may get a couple of visits more this way, that would make some 40% growth, wow! ;-)
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