The Invisible Third. The Basque and Celtic Words for ‘Swallow’

In a keynote address at the XI. Fachtagung der Indogermanischen , about possible non-Indo-European influence on the Celtic , Kim McCone drew attention to the similarity between the Celtic, e.g. OIr fannall, W gwennol, and the Basque,i.e. enara, ain(h)- , words for 'swallow' (Lat hirundo). McCone reconstructs *waNilri or *weNrilri as preforms for the Insular Celtic words, and *(w)aiNala for Pre- (McCone 2005,408-9).l This suggestion looks very attractive and and, if correct, would shed rare light on prehistoric linguistic in Western Europe. In this article, I will examine the equation closely and add a number of observations.