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Re: Ava - desired?
That's fascinating, thanks for the response! Do you think it's plausible that Avi derives from alfi, "elf"?
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No. In almost all languages the i causes umlaut of the a to either æ or e, nor is there any indication of loss of l before ƀ, and in the southern Germanic dialects Ava is presumed to originate it isn't alfi, as the original b of the root alb- "white" usually becomes p (note that the Elbe [presumably in reference to the tributary now known as the "White Elbe"] is the same word with different gender). If anything aside from the above (with the common misinterpretation of Latin V (u) as modern v) it could be a short form of names such as Averil, Aver- from the root represented by Gothic abrs, High German abar-, English afor, West Norse æfr "strong, forceful, vehement" (medial b and f are pronounced |ƀ| or |v| [ƀ almost indistinguishable from and usually replaced by the easier v], e.g. elf, elves; dwarf, dwarves).

This message was edited 8/15/2018, 4:02 PM

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