Dear Ms Pringle,
In a recent issue of UFO Magazine, which
I do not have in front of me, you offered an etymology for Sorbiodunum, the
Roman name of the site now known as Old Sarum in Wiltshire.
I cannot remember exactly what you said, but I
know I didn't agree with you at the time, so I'll tell you what I think is the
right answer.
Sorbiodunum is a hybrid name. -dunum is
a Celtic term for a pre-Roman hillfort, which is what Old Sarum was (recent
excavations have confirmed this).
This was overlaid on to an earlier name of the
place, which was Dene-Caucasian (ie, from one of the languages spoken by the
first modern human immigrants to Europe 40,000 years ago).
sorbio (earlier *sorwi ?) may be
compared with Basque xurbi "berry" and Proto-Yeniseian *shulpe,
also "berry" (and possibly also Basque zurba "madrone
tree").
There may have been a toponymic suffix, such as -di,
-ola, -eta, -aka, -kone, etc, but this has been lost or has merged
with -dunum through assimilation.
The name would have meant "place where
berries grow".
In the vicinity of Salisbury are a number of
river-names which are probably Dene-Caucasian: Sem, Nadder, Wellow and
Wylie, meaning "osier", "brightly coloured",
"marsh" and "muddy river" respectively. If I had my Ekwall
in front of me I would be able to explain this in more detail.
I hope the above is helpful.
I cannot be contacted by e-mail, only via Royal
Mail, at: Suite 401, 302 Regent Street, London W1B 3HH, 07814-562194.
With best wishes,
Angus J Huck