seuuonis

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Attestation:	MI·15 (seuuonis) (1)
Language:	Celtic
adapted to:	Latin
Word Type:	proper noun
Semantic Field:	personal name
Grammatical Categories:	gen. sg.
Stem Class:	on
Morphemic Analysis:	seuu̯-ōnis
Phonemic Analysis:	/seuu̯ōnis/ (?)
Meaning:	'of Seuuo'

Commentary

A Celtic base (?) seuu̯- (or seu̯u-?) is attested in a few Gaulish personal names, viz. seuu̯ā (SEVVAE gen.) in Geneva, twice seuu̯ō (SEVVO, potter's name at Lezoux and at Strasbourg; more in AcS II: 1530), and SEVVANTI[ at Trèves (Delamarre 2007: 167 f.). For the latter, Delamarre suggests an etymology with first element sego- and second element in u̯-; seuu̯ā and seuu̯ō (← Celtic seuu̯ū) could be hypocoristics of such compounds with weakened /g/ and assimilated stem vowel. This can explain /e/ before /u̯/ (or /u/), which, if inherited, should have become /o/; alternatively, the root vowel may be long (sēuu̯-). Morphologically, the form appears to be a Latin genitive of a Latinised name seuu̯ō.

Corinna Salomon

Bibliography

AcS	Alfred Holder, Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz, Leipzig: Teubner 1896–1907.
Delamarre 2007	Xavier Delamarre, Noms de personnes celtiques dans l'épigraphie classique. Nomina Celtica Antiqua Selecta Inscriptionum, Paris: Errance 2007.