Hugo Schuchardt Archiv

Dear Sir,

you denied at Munich that Pliny has the Basque word Zaldi-on, written incorrectly judging by what we have of Basque. Here is the passage where a writer in the Euskalerria led me to find it ]“[Nat: Hist: VIII.(67).166.“In eadem Hispania Gallaica gens est et Asturica equini generis. Hi sunt quos thieldones vocamus minore formâ appellatos asturcones”. I have underlined the words which I suppose the Romans to have borrowed from the BasquesF or Iberians of the lip or border of Europe between the mediterranean and the Atlantic. H. Champion, libraire, 9 Quai Voltaire, here has a box containing the neatly arranged fiches or slips of an unpublished Basque dictionary by Gustave Grandin, who 30 years ago lived at muddy S^t Jean. Before I saw that Victor Hugo claims Lutetia as derived from Latin lutum = mud I had noted that I thought it came from Basquelohi , lui, lu with the same meaning, which may itself be the root of the latin word, and which I think explains several place-names in France outside the pays Basque, e. g. Luçon, and Luxeuil - I had two full months in “Heskualherria” and have much increased my Euscarian library this year. M^rWebster was quite well a fortnight ago, but Van Eys ill at Berne where he found an unknown but perfect copy of Leiçarraga - Are you better?

E. S. Dodgson.
41 Rue des Ecoles,
Paris. 26 Nov: 1891.