*tronq‑, 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.
(4) When two explosives came before a liquid or nasal, the group remained in Pr. Kelt.; thus W. eithr ‘except’, Ir. echtar < *ektro‑s: Lat. exterus, extrā, Osc. ehtrad (‑x- for *‑c- is a Lat. innovation, Walde² 263);—W. aethn-en ‘aspen’ < *aktn- < *aptn‑: Lith. apuszė ‘aspen’, O. H. G. apsa, O. E. æps, E. asp: Lat. pōpulus < *ptō̆ptol‑, 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‑tr‑. 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‑dr- < *ad‑dr- or *eg‑dr‑; once as a double tenuis; see l. c.
vi. (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‑) beside Bret. eñtre, Corn. yntre: Lat. inter, Skr. antár;—W. athrugar ‘pitiless’ < *ąttr- beside Ir. ētrōcar < *entr‑, both < *n̥-trougākaros;—W. cathl ‘song’ < *kąttlo‑, Ir. cēol id. < *kęt(t)lo‑, O. W. centhliat, centhiliat (en ≡ ę) gl. canorum, beside Ir. cētal < *kentlo‑, Bret. keñtel ‘lesson’;—W. allwedd f. ‘key’ for *alchwedd, Bret. alc’houez metath. for *achlweẟ < *n̥-ql(ə)u̯-íiā (‘unlocker’,
