Carsten Becker wrote:
[snip]
>> La Valette
> 
> ??? ("Humilissima Civitas Valletta")
the very insignificant (low-lying?) town of Vallette

Without context one cannot be certain the precise meaning of 
_humilissima_ (very low, very humble, very insignificant etc) - but it 
tells us nothing about the meaning or origin of the name _Valletta_.

[snip]
> 
>> London
> 
> Landeng (N/A)
> /lAn.'dEN/

The original settlement was Roman, but the name would have taken from 
native British. The sources clearly show that the standard Latin form 
was _Londinium_ (neuter singular).

The spelling _Lundinium_ is also found and becomes common later. The Old 
English name, Lúndene, would have been taken from the contemporary 
native spoken form, and clearly shows a long-u as the initial vowel. The 
Welsh _Llundain_ clearly shows a form derived from British [u:] derived 
from an earlier [o:]. We know from Gaul that in certain contexts [o:] 
shifted to [u:] in ancient Gallic; Welsh - and not just with this name - 
gives evidence of a similar shift in Old British.

The suffix -inium has also caused problems. The expected form is -onium 
from a British *-onjon. Some people, indeed, think the Old English form 
is derived from *Lu:ndonjo. The Welsh form would seem to support this 
also. It has been suggested that the official Latin form arose from 
dissimilation of o-o to o-i, or by assimilation of the stressed vowel to 
the i/j of the ending.

Bede, whose L1 was Old English and wrote in the late 7th & early 8th 
cents CE (and, therefore knew nothing of the late Romano-British name) 
always gives the Latin form _Lundonia_ (feminine singular), with the 
derived adjective as _Lundoniensis_. He is probably using a form brought 
by Augustine & his fellow monks in 597 - i.e. this is the form used in 
6th cent Rome. Indeed, in his letter to Augustine in 601, Pope Gregory 
wrote "Lundoniae ciuitatis" [genitive] 'of London city.'

As for Lo:nd-/ Lu:nd-, we simply do not know its etymology. This has 
not, of course, prevented all sorts of proposed etymologies   :)

>> Madrid
> 
> Manasong ("Town at the river Manzanares")
> /,ma.na.'sON/

Except the river wasn't called Manzanares when Madrid was named. It 
seems that the city's name is derived from the Mozarabic form _Matrit_. 
the Arabic name for both the river & the city was, I believe, Majrīṭ. 
These names are ultimately derived from _Matrice_, a name given in the 
2nd cent BCE to the early settlement and to the river.

It is tempting to see a connexion between _Matrice_ and the stem _matr-_ 
(mother), but I do not know enough about the early toponyms of Iberia. 
Certainly _Madrid_ is not so different the modern Spanish _madre_ 
"mother"   :)

I do not know when the river was renamed or where the name _Manzanares_ 
comes from. But there are two town in Spain bearing that name: 
Manzanares in Ciudad Real, and Manzanares el Real (a medieval town near 
Madrid).

-- 
Ray
==================================
[log in to unmask]
http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
Nid rhy hen neb i ddysgu.
There's none too old to learn.
[WELSH PROVERB}