Today we’re looking at the words for material, substance and related things in Celtic languages.
| Proto-Celtic | damnyos = material, substance |
|---|---|
| Old Irish (Goídelc) | damnae = heir; matter, cause, reason, motive |
| Irish (Gaeilge) | damhna = matter, substance, subject, cause; eligible person damhna dorcha = dark matter damhnaigh = to materialize, shape, form damhnú = materialization, formation damhnúil = material |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | damhna [dãũnə] = stuff, material, matter; cause, reason damhnadh = band, tie; matter out of which anything is formed |
| Proto-Brythonic | *dėβ̃nɨð = material, stuff, matter |
| Middle Welsh (Kymraec) | deunit / defnyd / devnydh = material, stuff, matter |
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | defnydd [ˈdɛvnɨ̞ð/ˈdɛvnɪð] = material, stuff, matter, substance, essence, element, constituent part, particle, make-up, nature; use service, application, purpose, end, effect defnyddio = to use defnyddiol = useful defnyddiwr = user, consumer |
| Middle Cornish | daffnez = back |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | devnydh = ingredient, material, stuff, use devnydha = to utilise devnydhyer = user devnydhys = used |
| Old Breton | daffnez = matter, material |
| Middle Breton | danuez = matter, material |
| Breton (Brezhoneg) | danvez = matter, commodity, fabric, material, fortune, subject, content, future, disposition danvezel = material danvezelañ = to materialize danvezelezh = material danvezenn = material, substance |
Etymology: from the Proto-Indo-European *dem- (to build (up)) [source]. The English words such as domestic, dominate, dominion and timber come from the same PIE root [source].
| Old Irish (Goídelc) | adbar [ˈaðvar] = material, matter, reason |
|---|---|
| Irish (Gaeilge) | ábhar [ˈauɾˠ/ˈɑːvˠəɾˠ/ˈɑːwəɾˠ/ˈæːwəɾˠ] = matter, material, cause, reason, subject, topic, object ábharatha = material, relevant ábharachas = materialism ábharaí = materialist ábharaíoch = materialistic |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | adhbar [ɤːvər] = cause, ground, reason, motive, purpose, material, object, topic, source adhbharachas [ɤːvərəxəs] = materialism adhbharachadh [ɤːvərəxəɣ] = causing, effecting |
| Manx (Gaelg) | oyr [oːr] = cause, incentive, matter, motive, occasion, reason |
Etymology: from the Old Irish ad- and feraid (grant, afford, supply) [source].
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | stuth [sduh] = material (in general), stuff, substance, matter stuth dorcha = dark matter bun-stuth = raw material, essence |
|---|---|
| Manx (Gaelg) | stoo = material, stuff, substance, matter bun-stoo = element, elementary, raw material stoo-beaghee = foodstuffs stoo-lleihys = drugs, medicine stoo-sthie = content |
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | stwff = stuff, material, substance, cloth, fabric, stuffing stwffio = to stuff, fill, cram, shove stwffiwr = stuffer, pushy person, taxidermist |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | stoff = material, stuff |
Etymology: from the English stuff, from the Middle English stuffen (to equip, furnish), from the Old French estof(f)er (to equip, stuff), from the Old High German stoffōn (to stop, halt, stuff, insert), from the Proto-West-Germanic stoppōn (to stop, halt, plug, stuff, insert), possibly from the Latin stuppō [source].
Words marked with a * are reconstructions.
Sources: Wiktionary, Am Faclair Beag, Online Manx Dictionary, Teanglann.ie, eDIL – Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, logainm.ie, In Dúil Bélrai English – Old Irish glossary, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Gerlyver Kernewek, Gerlyvyr Cernewec, Dictionaire Favereau, TermOfis, Le dictionnaire diachronique du breton, Geriafurch, English – ProtoCeltic WordList (PDF), Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic
