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Let's get etymological!


Hemm a dheu a bost Facebook koth, mes pur dha ywa genev, ytho my a wra y ranna omma keffrys. My a wra assaya skrifa moy a bostow yn-kever etymologieth y'n termyn a dheu ynwedh :)

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The Cornish word for red is "rudh", the Welsh reads as "coch". Okay, easy peasy.

BUT, the Cornish word for crimson is "kogh" and the Welsh is, if you hadn't alread guessed/known it, "rhudd" - OMG, what is with all this swapping malarkey! ;) 

According to our dearest friend Wiktonary, rudh/rhudd come from the proto-celtic "*rowdos", which is also the source for the other celtic words (both Q and P) for red or a shade thereof. 

The Cornish "rudh" turns up in the placename "Resrudh" ("res" = ford), so logically one would assume that the name in English would be "Redford". However, we have seen, instead, a transliteration into "Redruth" taking place. "Red" makes its way into the name, but not in the right way.

In the case of kogh/coch, on the other hand, there is a much more exciting story awaiting us (or, at least, those of us who find the etymology of celtic words to be exciting)! They both stem from the Ancient Greek "κόκκος" meaning "berry" or "grain". This developed into the Latin "coccum" meaning a "scarlet red berry" or being used to describe a scarlet coloured dye/the insect it came from. And thus, through the invasions of the Romans, the insular brythonic Celts gained their words for red/crimson (though why the swap took place is only to be speculated, late at night, around a bonfire, with marshmallows and sausages on sticks).

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