The River Foss in York is usually referred to Latin fossa, perhaps via British. I am wondering why fauces is not a possibility.
After all, probable Roman wharves have been found in the Foss, and it seems to be a natural river mouth, not a ditch.
(However, the various other streams around York called Foss seem to be real fossae.)
The Latin word has given the Italian foce and Portuguese foz, both meaning river mouth. I suppose the phonology of my suggestion is problematic, both the short vowel and the last consonant. But the Appendix Probi confirms that au can become a short o ("auris non oricla"), and the Portuguese word must have passed through the stages *focs and *fots.
What would the Britons have made of fauces if they had borrowed the word?
Keith
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