Étymologie : 

A. DUROCOBRIVIS :  

Rivet & Smith, Place Names of Roman Britain, , p 349 : 

- Itinéraire d'Antonin, 471₂ (Iter II) : DUROCOBRIVIS; 

- Itinéraire d'Antonin, 476₉ (Iter VI) : DUROCOBRIUS;

- Itinéraire d'Antonin, 479₇ (Iter VIII) : DUROCOBRIVIS; 

For a reason that wil be shown, this name (unlike the two Durobrivae) has been cited as a fossilised locative in is; see ANICETIS.

DERIVATION. This name is more problematical than might appear at first glance. In form it does not satisfy Jackson, who notes in Britannia, I (1970), 73, that -co- is hardly British 'with' for this was *com-, and the name should have been *-combriuas. As for the suggested meaning, 'walled town (better, 'fort') with the joined bridges, although the second element appears to coincide with -brivae in other names, there is no bridge at Dunstable (whose identification is sure) and no river.

On the -co- question, it is possible, first, that the infix is not very meaningful. Holder I.1384 has Domnoveros and Domnocoveros as apparently forms of the same name (perhaps adjectival, on coins of Volisios in Britain). Rhys (1904) 40 wondered whether Domnoco- might not be merely a diminutive of Domno-. A diminutive of 'fort' (*duro-) would be perfectly acceptable, as in Latin castrum-castellum.

A better possibility is that there existed a Bristish version of Gaulish duorico- 'porticus' recorded in an inscription (Holder I.1390 : Sacer Peroco ieuru duorico V S L M); itself a derivative of *duro- (*duoro-n). Holder thinks that this is present in TP's Duroico Regum (for *Durocoregum > Domqueur, Somme, France; second element  Gaulish *rigo- 'king') and in British Duroco-brivis. But 'portico-bridge' does nor make a good sens, and the possibility arises that we should look for something other than *briva 'bridge' as the second element. It is not open to us to suggest that A.I's forms require adjustment, nor that *briua was used for any structure other than 'bridge over water' in any British record. However, there is a possible way forward in the study by M.G Tibiletti Bruno in the Rendiconti (Lett.) ... Istituto Lombardo, C.I, 3 (1967), 19, of the word prviam in a Lepontic-Ligurian  funerary text from Vergiate near Sesto Calende. In this word p is for b, and the word seems identical to Germanic *bruio > *bruggio- etc, 'bridge' : ' Si tratterà quindi di qualche cosa, forse une cella motuaria, formata di tavole'. The notion 'plank, board' (tavola) seems to be fundamental to other words discussed in the same study, and one wonders whether Celtic *briva in any way retained this primary sense (that of 'bridge' being secondary, though eventually dominant). 

The example quoted is naturally too remote for there to be any certainty, but there are attractions about it : 'portico-(of)-planks' would not be an impossible name for a fort by any means, and a Celtic *briuo- (singular; cf. perhaps brio glossed 'ponte' in the Vienna Glossary) might explain why so many of the latinised 'bridge'-names to have plural form, -brivae (see also DUROBRIVAE 1 on this aspect), if they express the idea of 'planks collectively that form a bridge'. In the same paper, Tibiletti Bruno takes up an idea of R. Hertz (1965) on Latin ponto 'ferry' being a loan-translation of a lost Celtic (Gaulish) *briuo- 'ferry' ('plank-boat'?); there may well be a good deal still to be learned in this area".    

B. DUNSTABLE.

* Eilert Ekwall : (aet) Dunestaple, 1123 ASC (E); Dunestapla, 1130 P;  -stable, 1154 HHunt.

de *Dunn(a)'s Stapol : * Dunn(a) : nom de personne (?); *stapol : pilier en pierre; menhir.

L'établissement du dénommé Dunna situé près d'un menhir.(?)

* A.D Mills (1991-2003) : Dunestaple 1123; "Boundary post of a man called Dun(n)a". OE person name + stapol.

Blason : 

Sources : 

* Eilert EKWALL : The concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. 4è édition. Clarendon Press. 1936-1980.

* A.L.F RIVET & Colin SMITH : The place-names of Roman Britain. Batsford Ltd. 1979-1982

* A.D MILLS : Oxford Dictionary of Brirish Place-Names. Oxford University Press. 1981 - 2003.

Liens électroniques des sites Internet traitant de Dunstable / Durocobriva :     

* lien communal officiel : http://www.dunstable.gov.uk/

http://www.dunstable.org.uk/

http://www.roman-britain.org/places/durocobrivis.htm

http://www.romanmap.com/htm/names/Dunstable.htm

http://home.freeuk.net/britannica/iter.htm

http://home.freeuk.net/britannica/roname.htm

http://www.archaeology.ws/roman.html

* forum du site Marikavel : Academia Celtica

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