Category: Galician (galego)

Celtic Pathways – Towns and Beehives

By Simon

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In this episode we’re finding out how words for towns and related things in Celtic languages are linked to words for beehives in other languages.

Trefor

The Proto-Celtic word *trebā means dwelling, and comes from the Proto-Indo-European *treb- (dwelling, settlement) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic language include:

  • treibh [ˈtʲɾʲɛv] = house, homestead, farmstead, household, family, tribe or race in Irish.
  • treubh [treːv] = tribe, family, clan or kin, and possibly treabh [tro] = farming village in Scottish Gaelic
  • tre(f) [treː(v)] = town; town centre; dwelling(-place), habitation, residence, home; house (and surrounding land), homestead or farm in Welsh
  • tre = [trɛ:/tre:] = farmstead, home, town or village in Cornish
  • trev = town in Breton

There doesn’t appear to be a cognate word in Manx.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root (via Latin) possibly include trobo (beehive, skep) in Galician, and truébanu (beehive, barrel, basket) in Asturian [source].

The archaic English word thorp(e) (a group of houses standing together in the country; a hamlet; a village), which appears in place names such as Milnthorpe and Scunthorpe, comes from the same PIE roots [source].

Other words from the same PIE roots include Dorf (hamlet, village, town) in German, torp (farm, cottage, croft) in Swedish, þorp (village, farm) in Icelandic, and trevë (country, region, village) in Albanian [source].

You can be find more details of words for Towns and Tribes in Celtic languages on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

Celtic Pathways – Hurdles

By Simon

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In this episode we’re looking into words for hurdle and related things.

Dublin at Christmas

The Proto-Celtic word *klētā means palisade or hurdle, and comes from the Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (to lean) [Source].

Related words in the modern Celtic language include:

  • cliath [klʲiə] = wattled, latticed, frame, hurdle, phalanx, staff or a (musical) stave in Irish. Also found in Baile Átha Cliath, the Irish name for Dublin.
  • cliath [kliə] = grid, lattice, grate, grating, shoal (of fish), hurdle, harrow, stockade, or (musical) stave in Scottish Gaelic
  • cleeah = lattice, wicker, fret, darn, stave, staff, grid, stretcher, grate, grating, criss-cross or school of fish in Manx
  • clwyd [kluːɨ̯d] = movable hurdle, wattle, lattice, rack, crate, gate, door; protection, cover or defence in Welsh
  • kloos = fence or rack in Cornish
  • kloued = fence, barrier, gate, railings, grating or grid in Breton

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Gaulish and Latin, include claie (wicker rack, trellis, hurdle) in French and cheda (wattled laterals at the base of a traditional cart) in Galician [source].

Words from the same PIE root include client, climate, clinic, incline and lean in English, leunen (to lean) in Dutch, lehnen (to lean) in German, chinàre (to bend) in Italian, and clemente (lenient) in Spanish [source], clé (left) and cleith (pole, cudgel, wattle) in Irish, cledd (left hand/side) in Welsh and related words in Celtic languages [more details].

You can be find more details of words for Hurdle Fences in Celtic languages on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

Celtic Pathways – Baskets

By Simon

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In this episode we’re looking into baskets, bundles and related things.

Baskets

The Proto-Celtic word *baskis means a bundle or load, and comes from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (bandle, band) [Source].

Related words in Celtic language include:

  • basc = circular necklet or neckband in Middle Irish
  • basc = round, red, scarlet in Scottish Gaelic
  • baich [bai̯χ] = burden, heavy load, labour, duty, sin, sorrow, woe, responsibility, a load or a dry measure in Welsh
  • begh = burden, load in Cornish
  • bec’h = difficulty, effort in Breton

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root include bascauda (woven mat or vessel to hold basketwork) in Late Latin, bâche (tarpaulin, canvas sheet, cover) in French, vascullo (broom, bundle of straw) in Galician, basket in English, فَشْقَار (fašqār – a heap of sheaves) in Arabic.

Incidentally, the Irish word bascaed, the Scottish Gaelic basgaid, the Manx basca(i)d/baskad, the Welsh word basged and the Cornish basket, all of which mean basket, were borrowed from English. The Breton word for basket, paner, was borrowed from the French panier (basket), from the Latin pānārium (breadbasket), from pānis (bread, loaf) [source].

Other words from the PIE root *bʰask- include fascis (bundle, burden, load, high office) in Latin, and possibly bast (fibre made from certain plants used for matting and cord) in English, bast (bast, raffia) in Danish, bast (inner bark, velvet, skin, hide) in Dutch, and bashkë (together, simultaneously) in Albanian [source].

You can be find more details of words for Burdensome Loads on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.