Histoire : 

Comme l'indique ND, XXVIII-15, Portus Lemanis a reçu en garnison, fin IVè siècle, une unité de Belges originaires de la région de Tournai, et commandé par un préfet.

Étymologies : 

a) Rivet & Smith, p. 386 ; 

- Itinéraire d'Antonin, 473-6/7 et 473-10 (Iter IV) : AD PORTUM LEMANIS; 

- Ravenna 106₃₅ : LEMANIS;

- Table de Peuntinger : LEMANIO (peut être aussi LEMAUIO);

- Notitia Dignitatum, XXVIII₅ : LEMANNIS

- Notitia Dignitatum, XXVIII₁₅ : "Praepositus numeri Turnacensium, LEMANNIS".

DERIVATION. The name is a fossilised locative, for which see ANICETIS; this fixed form was not affected by the use of portus, as AI shows. The name is based on river-name in the previous entry. Jackson in Britannia, I (1970), 78, examines process :

"The Anglo-Saxon name of Lympne, Liminas, derived from this [Lemanis, plural], was also plural; Lemanis may therefore represent a British plural, perhaps *Leman(n)ia, plural of a derivative *leman(n)ion or the like, though the force of a plural is less clear here than in the case of Dover. Alternatively, Lemanis may represent a British i-stem nominative singular, as in the Scottish Leven and Irish Laune, from *Lemanis; but understood by the Romans as a locative plural, and by the Anglo-Saxons following them.'

Perhaps if the base *lim- with plural termination and a sense 'marshes, flooded areas' (discussed in the previous entry) is borne in mind, the question of the plural to which Jackson alludes is answered.

IDENTIFICATION. The Roman fort of Stutfall Castle, Lympne, Kent (TR 1134). The Royal Military Canal, which runs past it and was constructed during the Napoleonic wars, follows the old course of the East Rother (formerly Lympne) river.

***************

b) Eilert Ekwall :

"Limene, Lime 12 (1331) Ch; Limine 1276 RH. Lympne, an old name of the East Rother Sussex, kent, which formely fell into the channel at Rye, and whose course is marked by the Royal Military Canal (Liminaea 697, Liminaea 740, Limenae, Limen, 724 BCS 98, 160, 141, identical with LEAM and LEMON, also with LEVEN (Gael. Leamhain) in Scotland. The name is derived fron the Celtic word for 'elm' found in OIr lem, Weslh llwyf. from this are derived Gaul. Lemonum, (lacus) Lemannus 'Lake Leman' and others. The OBrit base was Lemana (cf. the forms for Lympne town), which became OE Limene or (with velar mutation) Leomene (in LEAM, LEMON). From the river-name Lympne is derived the name of Lympne (lim) town, kent, (portus Lemanis 4,IA, Lemannis c. 425 ND; (of) Liminum 805-10, et Liminum 811 BCS 330, 332). This name is in the plural form (Lemanae, dat. Lemanis, &)."

Sources : 

* Eilert EKWALL: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names. Clarendon Press. 1980.

* A.L.F RIVET & Colin SMITH : The Place-names of Roman Britain. B.T Batsford Ltd. London. 1982.

Envois de : 

Liens électroniques des sites Internet traitant de Lympne / Portus Lemanis :  

* lien communal officiel : 

* forum du site Marikavel : Academia Celtica

hast buan, ma mignonig vas vite, mon petit ami

go fast, my little friend