Etymologieth/Etymology: Kyn an liv dhe dhos

Post diwyethek, Sowsnek a-woles/Bilingual post, Enlish below.
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Hedhyw, my a vynn mires orth gwrians a eryow yn Kernowek ha Kembrek. Yn hwreydhek, y fynnis eksplorya istori ha junyans an geryow ger, yeth ha tavas. Mes awos pur haval yns y'n dhiw yeth (Cy: gair, iaith ha tafod), my re janjyas ow brys yn y gever (Mes ha my ow mires delergh orto ha my ow kolegi, my a wel na janjis vy vyth yn hwir). Mes a vynnas gul neppyth gans etymologieth pypynnag. Ha my ow hwilas rag tybyansow my a drovyas an ger arge (Cy: argae), ha hemm a'm awenas tamm. Ytho, gesewgh ni dhe dhyski oll a-dro dhe'n arge ha'y gothmans! 😋

Ytho, gesewgh ni dhe dhalleth gans ARGE/ARGAE.

Kler yw (my a wayt) bos an dhew er gwrys a'm keth elvennow AR + KE/CAE. Ond fatel wrons dos war-barth?

Wel, yn kensa, ha ny wonn vy prag, ev yw AR yn le WAR yn Kernowek. Certan ov y vos acheson rag hemma awos ev a hwer yn kasys erel avel "arenep", "arvordir" h.e. (nyns ywa posek hedhyw mes my a wra y hwilas y'n termyn a dheu). Herwydh an Gerlyver Penskol Kembra "y styr AR tyller a-wartha arenep hag yn junyans ganso" (Gweler an Sowsnek y'n imach).

Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru

Ytho, mars yw WAR neppyth, pyth yw an KE ow kul ena? KE a dheu a-dhyworth an Proto-Keltek *kagyom - garth/hay/park/kloos/ke hag yw junyes gans an Proto-Jermanek *hagô - a le may teu an ger Sowsnek haw (ke) usi an haw yn hawthorn (spern gwynn).

Ytho DAM yn Kernowek ha Kembrek yw "ke gans neppyth warnodho" (h.y. an enclosure with something on top of it).

Dell, ple'ma'gan ARGE?

Wel, dell yw usys, y'n nansow a vydhons byldyes rag gul kreunyow. Mes pyth yw NANS?

Y geslinek Kembrek yw NANT, mes ny styrons an keth. Gover yw NANT ha komm yw NANS. I a dheu a-dhyworth an Proto-Brythonek *nant ha'n Proto-Keltek *nantos a styr gover ha komm (nyns yw henn meur a weres dhyn y'n kas ma). Mes, my o feusikka gans GOVER.

Yn Kembrek an ger GOFER a styr an keth avel yn Kernowek HA fenn a fenten - nyns yw hemm travyth dhe wul gans pandr'a skrifav, my a dybis hepken y vos splann ha res o dhymm y gomprehendya!

Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru

Ytho, pandr'a dhyskson y'n post ma? - Na veur! Mes ni re welas tamm moy a istori an dhiw yeth homm. Yth esa moy a bythow a vynnsen koswel y'ga hever hedhyw, mes yn anfeusik, ny yllis trovya oll an kedhlow esa odhom dhymm ragdha. Ogh wel, ni a dhur dhe dhyski yn neb kas!

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Today I want to look at the make-up of words in Cornish and Welsh. Originally, I wanted to explore the history and connection between the words ger/gair (word), yeth/iaith (language) and tavas/tafod (tongue). But because of the similarities in meaning between the two languages, I changed my mind (which looking back now as I edit, did not really help e avoid the same problem). I wanted to do something with etymology anyway. Whilst I was searching for ideas, I came across the word arge (dam) (Cy: argae), and this insired me somewhat. So, Let's learn all about the dam and his friends! 😋

So let's start with ARGE/ARGAE.

It's clear (I hope) that the two words are made from the same elements AR + KE/CAE. But how do they come together?

Well, firstly, and I don't know why, the Cornish uses AR instead of WAR. I'm sure there is a reason for this as it happens in other cases like "arenep", "arvordir", etc (but it's not important today, though I will look it up in the future). According to the Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru "AR means a location on top of a surface and in connection with it" (See the image below).

Geeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru

So, if it is ON something, what is the KE (hedge/fence) doing there? KE comes from Proto-Celtic *kagyom - enclosure and is connected to the Proto-Germanic *hagô - from which we derve the English haw (enclosure) which is the haw in hawthorn (magical).

So DAM in Cornish and Welsh is an enclosure with something on top of it.

So, where is our ARGE?

Usually, they are built in valleys to make resevoirs. The Cornish word for valley is NANS, but from where does this come?

The Welsh cognate is NANT, however these two do not mean the same thing. NANT is a stream or GOVER in Cornish. Whilst NANS is a small river, plain and simple. They (NANT/NANS) come from the Proto-Brythonic *nant, which annoyingly means both tream and valley (this doesn't really help us much). But I had more luck with GOVER.

In Welsh the word GOFER means the same as in Cornish, that is stream or spring, AND it means the overflow of a well - which isn't relevant to this really, but I just thought it was fabulous and it had to be included!

Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru

So, what has this post taught us? - Not much! But we have seen some more of the combined history of these two languages and their lexicons. I had wanted to talk about some more things, but I was unable to gather enough information on them this time. Oh wel, we continue to learn in any case!