aged-

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Type:	lexical
Meaning:	unknown
Language:	Celtic
Phonemic analysis:	/aged/- (?)
Attestation:	akeśi, akitu

Commentary

Onomastic element in Gaulish names like RIG M-177 agedomopatis/agedomapatis (gen.), M-93 caliaged, M-14 αγεδ, agedouirus, aged(i)us, agedillus, agedilios, agedinius (DLG: 34, Delamarre 2007: 210 et passim). The etymology is not clear. The element is connected with OIr. agad 'face' (also 'reputation') by Holder AcS I: 55 (also Dottin 1920: 224, Meid 2005: 213, Falileyev 2010: 5), for which in turn Vendryes LEIA: A-23 f. suggests a derivation from the root ag- 'drive, lead' < PIE *h₂eĝ- 'drive' via 'conduct, attitude', in which case Gaulish aged- could be 'manner, appearance' as well as 'face' (DLG: 34: agedomapas 'childlike', agedouirus 'of honest aspect', cf. KGP: 118). The genitive of the OIr. form aigthe, however, poses a problem for the connection with Gaul. aged- (Hertz via KGP: 118). Another issue is the existence of a number of variants whose relation to each other is unclear: Evans GPN: 131 f. lists potential Irish cognates for aged-, but points to ages- (agesillus), agid- (agidillus), agis- (agisillus), aced- (acedillus, ac[ed]omapatis), acid- (acidus), acis- (acisillia, acisius), acit-, and doubts that a discreet Gaulish element aged- existed. (acito-, a toponymic element (acitodunum, acitorigiacon), is kept separate by Delamarre DLG: 31 and translated as 'plain' (OIr. ached)). Cf. also Villar & Prósper 2005: 271, n. 335.

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.
DLG	Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise. Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental, 2nd, revised edition, Paris: Errance 2003.
Dottin 1920	Georges Dottin, La langue gauloise. grammaire, textes et glossaire [= Collection pour l’étude des antiquités nationales 2], Paris: Klincksieck 1920.
Falileyev 2010	Alexander Falileyev, Dictionary of Continental Celtic Place-Names. A Celtic Companion to the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Aberystwyth: CMCS 2010.