>> I lack control of Spanish, unfortunately, but with -uela is a >> diminuitive ending, doesn't that suggest that vihuela is from a word >> like VIHA?
actually, I was under the impression that *vihuela* is just another form of the word *viola*, with the letter E signifying the lengthened vowel U (vihooola). Once the stress was shifted from U to E, the last four letters have come to resemble the Spanish diminuitive ending -uela. Cheers, Mathias -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
