List of English words of Brittonic origin

The number of English words known to be derived from the Brittonic language is remarkably small. In fact, as far as can be ascertained it is lower than the number of words of Gaulish origin found in the English language, which arrived through Norman French. However, this is to be expected, given the socio-historical relationship between Old English and Brittonic; the influence of the Brittonic language on English has been extremely limited. However, it is possible that many British words have been obscured by their close similarity to Germanic words which are perceived to offer a more likely etymology (e.g. "belly": considered to be from OE bylg, but could easily be from AB *belgā), and also that some of them have been misidentified as Gaulish via French, which are simply unattested until after the Norman invasion.

Other sources of Celtic words in English

This list does not include words of Celtic origin definitely borrowed into English from other languages/later forms of Brittonic, namely:

  • Later Brythonic: Welsh (e.g. coracle), Cornish (e.g. wrasse, possibly gull), or Breton (e.g. dolmen, menhir).
  • Gaelic (e.g. keening, bog, bother, hubbub, glen, clan)
  • Gaulish (via Norman French or Latin: ambassador, bound, car, carpenter, piece)
  • Gaulish or similar Indo-European via early Germanic (e.g. down[1]).

List

'Conservative scholarship recognises fewer than ten' Brittonic loan-words in English.[2] This list includes all the putatively Brittonic loan-words listed in key surveys,[3][4][5][6] to which a range of suggestions for Brittonic etymologies for words attested only in Old English could be added, principally from the work of Andrew Breeze.[7] Oxford English Dictionary etymologies are included to indicate the view of this authoritative (but not necessarily definitive) source, distinguishing between the first, second, and third editions.

word putative Brittonic etymology OED etymology
ass Old British *assin or Old Irish *assan,[4] but more likely from Irish.[3] Celtic (OED1)
bannock Etymologised by the OED as from Gaelic bannach, ? < Latin pānicium < pānis bread.[8] But possibly Old Brittonic *bannoc.[5] Gaelic (OED1)
basket Apparently from Brittonic *basc(i)-etto-n, meaning "little wicker thing".[9] unknown (OED1)
beak Possibly from Brittonic *becco-s, meaning "beak"; equally possibly from Gaulish via Latin (beccus) via French (bec).[10] However, the OED saw the Celtic words as being borrowed from English.[11] French bec (OED1)
beck Agricultural implement with two hooks. Rather vaguely etymologised in the OED as from a 'Celtic root bacc-' (possibly via French).[12] French (OED1)
bin Possibly from Old Brittonic *benna, but possibly borrowed in to Germanic before the separation of Old English.[5] Probably Celtic (OED1)
brat Possibly from a Brittonic root meaning "cloak, cloth" (Old Welsh *breth or *brath), cognate with Old Irish bratt. However, the OED and recent scholars see the English word as coming from Irish.[13][14] In Old English, bratt meant "cloak", but later came to mean "ragged garment", then "beggar's garment", and then "beggar's child", whence it attained its current meaning of "unruly child".[15][16] "Brat" is still used in parts of Northern England to refer to a rough working apron.[17] Irish bratt (OED1)
brock From Brittonic *brocco-s, meaning "badger". Celtic (OED1)
carr 'Rock'. Cf. Welsh carreg 'rock'. Given as a Celtic loan by Kastovsky.[5] Old Northumbrian (OED1)
coomb From Old Brittonic *kumba, meaning "valley".[5] Probably Brittonic (OED1)
crag According to the OED 'apparently of Celtic origin: compare Irish and Gaelic creag, Manx creg, cregg, Welsh craig rock. None of these, however, exactly gives the English crag, cragg'.[18] Celtic (OED1)
dad, daddy From Brittonic *tatV-, meaning "dad". Equally possibly an independent innovation, although well-attested in Celtic and other Indo-European languages,[19] including German[20] Probably formed within English (OED3)
dam Possibly from Brittonic *damā-, meaning "female sheep or deer"; alternatively from French dame, "lady, woman".[21] French dame (OED1)
doe Possibly from a Brittonic root *da-,[22] perhaps related to *damā- above. Latin dāma (OED1)
dun According to the OED, 'perhaps < Celtic: compare Irish and Gaelic donn brown, Welsh dwn'.[23] Celtic (OED1)
dunnock From Brittonic *dunn-āco-s, *dunn-occo-s, meaning "little brown one". Formed within English (OED1)
flannel Possibly from Brittonic *u̯lan-ello-s, meaning "little woollen thing". Possibly from Gaulish via French (flaine + diminutive suffix), or loaned from Welsh (gwlanen).[24] Uncertain (OED1)
funta And Old English word meaning 'spring', from Latin fons, but probably via Brittonic.[5] ─
gavelock A kind of spear. Cf. 'Old Norse gaflak, gaflok neuter javelin (perhaps adopted < English), Welsh gaflach (said to mean ‘bearded arrow’), Irish gabhla lance, Old Northern French gavelot (12th cent.), gaverlot, gavrelot, garlot (= Central French javelot , Italian giavelotto ) javelin, whence Middle Dutch gavelot, gaverloot, Middle High German gabilôt'.[25] Now thought to have been borrowed into English from Old Norse, which borrowed it from Old Irish.[26] Celtic (via Old French?) (OED1)
gob Possibly from Brittonic gobbo-s, meaning "mouth, lump, mouthful". Equally possibly from Gaelic, or Gaulish via French.[27] Middle French gobe, goube (OED1)
luh Old Northumbrian, 'pool', cf. Old Welsh *luch.[5] ─
mattock The OED concludes that 'there are no Germanic cognates, and Welsh matog, Irish matóg, and Scottish Gaelic màdog are from English. Perhaps < vulgar Latin *matteūca club, cudgel.'[28] Latin (OED3)
milpæþ Old English, 'army road', possibly from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh mil 'thousand, army'.[29] ─
nook Possibly from Brittonic nuccā-, meaning "nook, cranny, small hole"; French niche would be cognate. Unknown (OED3)
prass Old English, 'pomp, array', perhaps from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh pres 'soldiers in array'.[30] ─ (cf. s.v. oliprance, n.) (OED3)
sark Possibly from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh seirch 'armour, trappings' (itself from Latin sarcīre 'patch').[31] Germanic *sarki-z (OED1)
stor 'Incense, wax'.[32] Perhaps Latin (OED2)
tor 'Generally held to be Celtic', according to the OED, which cites Old Welsh twrr ‘heap, pile’ and Gaelic tòrr ‘hill of an abrupt or conical form, lofty hill, eminence, mound, grave, heap of ruins’.[33] Celtic (OED1)
toroc 'Bung.' Possibly not even an English word[4]─or an English word but not of Celtic origin.[3] ─
wassenas Old English, 'retainers', possibly from Brittonic.[34] ─
yan, tan, tethera etc. And variants. Ultimately from Brittonic *oinā, *deŭai, *tisrīs, etc., heavily corrupted by the nature of the survival. More likely a later borrowing from Welsh and Cornish. ─

References

  1. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - down (n.2), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  2. ↑ David N. Parsons, 'Sabrina in the thorns: place-names as evidence for British and Latin in Roman Britain', Transactions of the Royal Philological Society, 109.2 (July 2011), 113–37 (p. 120).
  3. 1 2 3 Coates, Richard, ‘Invisible Britons: The View from Linguistics’, in Britons in Anglo-Saxon England, ed. by Nick Higham, Publications of the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies, 7 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2007), pp. 172–91 (pp. 177-80).
  4. 1 2 3 Campbell, A. 1959. Old English Grammar. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 220.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kastovsky, Dieter, ‘Semantics and Vocabulary’, in The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume 1: The Beginnings to 1066, ed. by Richard M. Hogg (Cambridge, 1992), pp. 290–408 (pp. 318-19).
  6. ↑ D. Gary Miller, External Influences on English: From Its Beginnings to the Renaissance (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 19–20.
  7. ↑ Breeze, Andrew, ‘Seven Types of Celtic Loanword’, in The Celtic Roots of English, ed. by Markku Filppula, Juhani Klemola and Heli Pitkänen, Studies in Languages, 37 (Joensuu: University of Joensuu, Faculty of Humanities, 2002), pp. 175–81.
  8. ↑ "bannock, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017
  9. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - basket (n.), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  10. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - beak (n.), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ "beak, n.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "beck, n.3." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "brat, n.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  14. ↑ Breeze, Andrew. 1995. ‘Irish brat ‘cloak, cloth’: English brat ‘child’.’ Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie 47, 89-92.
  15. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - brat (n.), retrieved Nov. 16, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Episode 30: The Celtic Legacy". History of English Podcast (Podcast). September 6, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  17. ↑ Issue no 48, October 1999, British Archaeology. Retrieved November 17, 2016.
  18. ↑ "crag, n.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  19. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - dad (n.), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  20. ↑ Grimm's Wörterbuch - entry deite
  21. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - dam (n.2), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  22. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - doe (n.), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  23. ↑ "dun, adj." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  24. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - flannel (n.), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  25. ↑ "gavelock, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  26. ↑ Breeze, Andrew. 1993b. ‘Celtic etymologies for Old English cursung ‘curse’, gafeluc ‘javelin’ [etc.].’ Notes and Queries 238, 287-97.
  27. ↑ Douglas Harper, "Online Etymology Dictionary" - gob (n.), retrieved Mar. 1, 2014.
  28. ↑ "mattock, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  29. ↑ Andrew Breeze, 'Exodus, Elene, and The Rune Poem: Milpæþ "Army Road, Highway" ', Notes and Queries, 38.4 [236] (1991), 436-38.
  30. ↑ Andrew Breeze, 'Maldon 68: Mid Prasse Bestodon', English Studies, 73 (1992), 289-91.
  31. ↑ Andrew Breeze, 'Old English Syrce "Coat of Mail": Welsh Seirch "Armour" ', Notes and Queries, 40.3 [238] (1993), 291-93.
  32. ↑ Breeze, Andrew. 1998. ‘A Brittonic etymology for Old English stor ‘incense’.’ Anglia 116, 227-30.
  33. ↑ "tor, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 1 September 2017.
  34. ↑ Andrew Breeze, 'Old English Wassenas "retainers" in Godpatrick's Writ', Notes and Queries, 39.3 [237] (1992), 272-75.

See also

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