u̯imp-

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Type:	lexical
Meaning:	'pretty'
Language:	Celtic
Phonemic analysis:	/u̯imp/-
Attestation:	kuimpalui, uipios

Commentary

A base uimp- is attested in Continental Celtic personal names such as CIL XIII 4707 uimpi (Vittel), III 4251 uimpiae, XIII 4616 uimpate, XIII 3294 uimpurila, possibly RIIG BDR-13-02 (RIG G-107) ουιμ̣[πι]λλα (see Delamarre 2007: 199 f., Meid 2005: 248 f., Stüber 2005: 80 f.). It can be connected with the lexeme uimpi, an epithet of women on spindle whorls, and further with W gwymp < *u̯impos, f. gwemp < *u̯impā 'pretty'. The etymology is unclear. See Lejeune 1976: 96–104, DLG: 320.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

CIL	Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. (17 volumes, various supplements)
Delamarre 2007	Xavier Delamarre, Noms de personnes celtiques dans l'épigraphie classique. Nomina Celtica Antiqua Selecta Inscriptionum, Paris: Errance 2007.
DLG	Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental, 2nd, revised edition, Paris: Errance 2003.