[Spellyans] parsnip

[nicholas williams]

Lhuyd's collective panez is probably not the same word as his singular  
panan. Panan < MC *panen is a singulative feminine derived from the  
obsolete English word pane 'parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)'. Pane itself  
may have come from Middle English panage 'right of feeding pigs',  
though has probably been contaminated by the word for 'parsnip'.
Panez is not the plural of panan, but a collective plural from an  
unattested singulative *panesen (as was suggested by Nance). Nance's  
*panesen was conjectured on the basis of Breton panezenn 'parsnip'.  
The Breton singulative panezenn has a collective plural panez (cf.  
Lhuyd's panez), itself derived from Old French pasnaie, panais  
'parsnip'. French panais derives from Latin pastinaca 'parsnip'. A  
learned French form pastinaque is also attested, which was adopted in  
English as *pasneque and then reshaped on the basis of turnep, turnip,  
where the element -nep means 'root vegetable'.
Lhuyd also give turnypan 'turnip (Brassica rapa)' AB: 136b  where the  
form is clearly singulative.

Since panan and panez are not the same word, since *panezen, *panesen  
is the naturally derived singular of the attested panez, since Breton  
panez, panezenn is exactly comparable, and since Lhuyd cites a  
singulative tyrnypan < turnypen, I can see nothing wrong with  
collective panes, singulative *panesen in revived Cornish.

Nicholas

In English pa
On 15 Gen 2010, at 10:32, j.mills at email.com wrote:

> Morton Nance (1938) gives the singulative "panesen" for 'parsnip'.  
> The only attestation that I have found is Lhuyd (1707: 114a, 240c)  
> who gives "panan". Lhuyd (1707: 14c, 33a, 114a, 243a) gives the  
> plural as "panez". Are we justified in writing a singulative form  
> "panesen"?

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