Who can give me 15 words used everyday in ENGLAND that are of CELTIC origin?
There is a question elswhere about the origins of the English language, it is getting many replies about how English is a mix of many different languages, granted, but some are suggesting that the Celtic languages contributed strongly to it, I disagree. I'm not interested in examples from areas where English has been adapted and native words introduced to it (Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Mann, Cornwall) I want examples from outside the 'Celtic' areas where 'Celtic' words are used daily, and I don't want 'leftover' placenames or names for geographic features (Avon, Pen) etc. Real everyday words. I bet we cant find 15, maybe not even 10. Prove me wrong....... Ok, Eternal, PAY ATTENTION! I'm not disputing that there are plenty of Celtic words that have found their way into the English language, I want to hear from people living outside the areas of Celtic influence who actually USE them, you can't tell me that a cockney wears 'Brogues' or introduces his girlfriend to his 'Clan' I want words that are used daily. josephine-uk and st4rry get the picture, thank you, personal experience is what i'm looking for not lists copied and pasted from the web, many of which contain english words that share a common root with celtic words but are not directly descended from them, despite what wikipedia says.
Public Comments
- Here's a list of about 20 or so. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Celtic_origin Dave O - I'm paying attention. Can you read? The list includes : Dad , Mum, town, down, clutter, lawn, piece, slogan - and many more, used everyday. It also includes gob - something you seem familiar with.
- I agree. Apart from place names and the like. Adopted words include bucket, car, crockery, noggin, gob, slogan and flannel, truant and gaol (although these words entered general English usage at a later date – certainly post-Norman conquest). That's 9 for your list!
- From Irish: banshee, blarney, bog, brogue, galore, hooligan, leprechaun, shamrock, smithereens, Tory, whiskey. From Scots Gaelic: cairn, clan, claymore, plaid, slogan. From Welsh: corgi, flannel. and a few more from Scotland pet peata peata tame animal phony fáinne fàinne ring (from the gilt brass ring used by swindlers) slob slaba mud, ooze; slovenly person trouser triubhas trews; pants Slew [as in 'I have a slew of things to do' etc.] = Gaelic 'slua' ... 'army', etc. Galore = go leor [I have money galore ... down (adverb) á dùn down (noun - hill not plumage) dùn Smashing 'S math sin Teaming (as in "the rain came teaming down") taoman Twig Tuig From Breton: penguin. From Cornish: gull. Edited to add: no wiki involved, just a respected British University
- ambassador banshee bard beak budget clan clutter dad down embassy lawn leprechaun mom or mum piece shamrock slogan town valet whisky
- I know the word mam is welsh and that is used in the North of England. Oh I see mum comes from that word so I guess dad comes from tad then.
- is ''craic'' in there i think its an irish word if im correct yet we hear it in manchester a lot means great fun i think
- Galore comes from the Irish "go leor" (pronounced guh lore)meaning plenty.
- Dad cannot be claimed to be derived from a celtic language anymore than it can be claimed to be from Sanskrit where ‘tatah’ has the same meaning as dad. This is because words like this and mom before the Indo-European languages diverged and have not tended to change much . Dad - Welsh tad, Irish. daid, Czech, Latin., Greek. tata, Lithuanian. tete, Sanskrit . tatah all of them have same meaning Mom - Latin. mamma, Persian. mama, Russian, mama Lithuanian. mama, French. mamen, Welsh mam all mean mother. The Greek. mamme means mother or grandmother and the German. muhme means mother's sister. Words like ambassador, budget, peace, have Celtic origins but they were Celtic influences on French that the Normans brought with them town was borrowed from Celtic languages but while the English were still on the continent. It wasn’t borrowed from Welsh or Irish.
- I use cwtch for cuddle, cloyey to describe someone who is clingy, the mouthfeel of a particular sort of certain foods like dumplings or a humid day and naws, which is usually spelt nous in english which means common sense. i also know people who speak zero welsh but will describe someone as twp - thick! i think naws/nous and cwtch are in the oxford english dictionary. both are welsh words, used in both languages. i agree, i don't think the celtic languages contributed greatly to the development of english. think saxon, norman french, latin and the scandinavian languages. the adventure of english by melvyn bragg covers the subject very well and describes how english has quite happlily appropriated words and phrases over time. the other interesting thing is just how young english is. academics have reason to believe that speakers of modern welsh could probably communicate quite happily with boudicca if she suddenly rose from the dead after 2000 or so years. oddly, this doesn't seem far fetched to me as recently i read a first edition welsh language bible from the 1500's and i had no trouble at all, compare that to english of the same period. i also have had a look at stuff from the 13th century and although problematic, you can get the gist without special tuition. Please, please don't think that because of this, that any of the celtic languages are somehow archaic - they're not! their structure allows them to adapt with time.
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