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150 &#42;tronq&#8209;, see vi (3)) : Lat. stercus, Bret. stroñk ‘excrement’. It is seen that the loss is later than the change onk > unk § 65 iii (1) ; it also takes place in Lat. loanwords, as W. pwyth ‘stitch’ < punctum; but in the later of these the first explosive drops, as in sant < sanctus.

When two explosives came before a liquid or nasal, the group remained in Pr. Kelt.; thus W. eithr ‘except’, Ir. echtar < *ektro&#8209;s: Lat. exterus, extrā, Osc. ehtrad (&#8209;x- for *&#8209;c- is a Lat. innovation, Walde² 263);—W. aethn-en ‘aspen’ < *aktn- < *aptn&#8209;: Lith. apuszė ‘aspen’, O. H. G. apsa, O. E. æps, E. asp: Lat. pōpulus < *ptō̆ptol&#8209;, Gk. πτελέα ‘elm’.

But a double explosive before a sonant was not distinguished in Ar. from a single; thus ettre was not distinct from etre, Meillet, Intr.² 102. In Homer and the Veda the first syllable is metrically long; in Plautus and Aristophanes, short; ordinarily in Gk. and Lat., doubtful. In old Kelt. formations we have one t for two, as in Gaul. Atrebates, W. adref ‘homewards’ < *atreb- < *attr- < *ad&#8209;tr&#8209;. In later formations the double consonant remained, as in W. athrist ‘sad’ < *attrīstis < *ad- + Lat. trīstis. kr, tr may develop as kkr, ttr in W. as in ochr, rhuthr § 104 iii (2). A double media in Brit. is treated regularly as a single tenuis in W., as in edrych ‘to look’ < *etr- < *ed&#8209;dr- < *ad&#8209;dr- or *eg&#8209;dr&#8209;; once as a double tenuis; see l. c.

(1) A group of the form nt or nd, followed immediately or mediately by a liquid or nasal, has tended from an early period in Kelt. to become a double explosive tt or dd with nasalization of the preceding vowel. In Ir. the double consonant was simplified before the sonant; see cēol, abra, cobrith (b ≡ ƀ) below. The change, being a case of dissimilation of the continuants, does not take place regularly, § 102 i; it often exists side by side with the regular development of the group. Thus O.W. ithr ‘between’, Bret, etre, Van. itre, Ir. eter (not *ēt- the regular Ir. for *ent&#8209;) beside Bret. eñtre, Corn. yntre: Lat. inter, Skr. antár;—W. athrugar ‘pitiless’ < *ąttr- beside Ir. ētrōcar < *entr&#8209;, both < *n̥-trougākaros;—W. cathl ‘song’ < *kąttlo&#8209;, Ir. cēol id. < *kęt(t)lo&#8209;, O. W. centhliat, centhiliat (en ≡ ę) gl. canorum, beside Ir. cētal < *kentlo&#8209;, Bret. keñtel ‘lesson’;—W. allwedd f. ‘key’ for *alchwedd, Bret. alc’houez metath. for *achlweẟ < *n̥-ql(ə)u̯-íiā (‘unlocker’,