Etymology/Etymologieth: What lies beneath

Post diwyethek, Sowsnek a-woles/Bilingual post, English below.

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Park Ertach Komm Rhondda myttin ma.

Avel hwi a wor po na, pur dha yw genev hendhyskonieth dhiwysyansek, yn arbennik balyow ha mengleudhyow - my a adhvesas yn arenebedh Goon Brenn est, ytho eksplorya remenans an balyow koth ha dyski y'ga hever re beu darn meur a'm bewnans rag bledhynnyow. Myttin ma, ha my ow tiwrosa, my a bassays lower a dylleryow koth an Gwelyow-Glow Kembra Dyghow, ow komprehendya Nantgarw, Ferndale ha'n Lowva Lewis Merthyr (keffrys aswonnys avel: Park Ertach Komm Rhondda). Hemm, yn kesober a'm les diwettha y'n diwysyans glow, a wrug dhymm tybi a-dro dhe valweyth ha'n erva Geltek a wra mos ganso. Na esewgh ni dhe ankevi: Yma Kernow a-woles pub toll y'n dor y'n bys! 

Jynnjiow koth dhe Venyon

Ytho, awos bos agan le usadow yndha, y hwrav dalleth gans agan ger: bal. Hemm a dheu a-dhyworth an ger Proto-Keltek *kʷaleti ow styrya palas. Y hwelir an ger omma yn Kembrek keffrys palu. Yma dhe'n Kembrek an ger pâl ynwedh a styr pal dell yw usys, mes treweythyow ev a yll styrya kleudhyans  - hemm a brof kevren gans an bal Kernowek awos yma res kleudhya rag gul bal. An ger bal a bes dhe hwarvos yn Sowsnek-Kernewek hwath, yn arbennik yn Kernow West.

Lemmyn, dhe Gembra, tre an Owr Du! Devnydhir mwynglawdd rag bal omma, ger py a delergh dhe'n 16ves kansvledhen dhe gampolla balyow arghans hag owr. Yma diw elven dhe'n ger ma mwyn - moon  ha clawdd - kleudh. My a wra dalleth gans an nessa elven kyn my dhe fogella war an kensa. Clawdd (ha kleudh) a dheu a-dhyworth an ger Proto-Keltek *klādo- a styr kleudh - ny janjyas lower dres an bledhynnyow oll. An Proto-Keltek a dheu a-dhyworth an ger Proto-Indo-Europek klād-.

Mwyn ha moon a lever hwedhel dyffrans. I a dheu a-dhyworth an Proto-Brythonek muɨn avel an ger Wordhonek méin. An Proto-Brythonek a dheu a-dhyworth an Proto-Keltek mēnis, avel desevys. Omma, an drolla a yn tu didheurek. Galek a gemer y er ménan (moon) a'n Proto-Keltek. Hemm a ros an ger mina dhe Latinek a ros an ger mine dhe Frynkek. A yllowgh gweles le mayth yw hemm ow mos? Awos a-dhyworth an Frynkek an Sowsnek a gemer y er mine! (An ger Mine yn Almaynek keffrys). Ytho, an Geltyon a yll perghenegi an ger mine avel nebes an gwella tus bal y'n bys!

Kesker an mwynglawdd Kembrek yw mengleudh hag avel ni oll a wor lemmyn, ni styrons an keth. An ger Kembrek rag mengleudh yw chwarel (po cwarel, cloddfa, maengloddfa yn nebes rannyethow). An ger savonek chwarel a dheu a quarreria yn Latinek usi tyller le mayth yw meyn pedregys. Ni a yll keheveli an geryow cloddfa ha maengloddfa gans hemma usi kleudhva ha mengleudhva a-gettep. My a grys y teu'n ger kwarel a-dhyworth an keth ger Latinek, mes ev re gemeras an styr "neppyth pedrek", martesen?

Wel, henn yw oll rag hedhyw. My re wrug mappa rag gweres diskwedhes oll an geryow a dhevnydhyes y'n post ma, omlowenhewgh! 

Drog yw genev y vos yn Sowsnek yn unnik.

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The Rhondda Heritage Park this morning.

As you may or may not be aware, I'm a massive fan of industrial archaeology, especially mines and quarries - I grew up around eastern Bodmin Moor, so exploring mine ruins and learning their stories has always been a large part of my life. This morning, whilst cycling around I passed many former sites of the South Wales Coalfields, including Nantgarw, Ferndale and the Lewis Merthyr Colliery (aka the Rhondda Heritge Park). This, combined with my recent reindulgence in learning about the coal industry, got me thinking about mining and the Celtic lexicon which goes along with them. Lest we forget: at the bottom of every hole in the world you’ll find a Cornishman.

Old engine houses at Minions.

So, as we're often at the bottom of them, I'll start with the Cornish offering: bal. This comes from the Proto-Celtic word *kʷaleti meaning to dig. Compare this to the Welsh word palu, meaning to dig, and pâl meaning shovel (pal in Cornish). It is interesting to note that pâl can also mean dug soil, tilth (tilled land) or a digging - this suggest links with bal - for what is a mine if not a digging? Bal is also a good example of Cornish being borrowed into the English dialects of Cornwall and can still be heard on occasion in the West.

Now, to Wales, the home of Black Gold! Here, the word mwynglawdd is used, its use being traced back beyond the 16th century to reference gold and silver mines. This word is constructed of two elements mwyn - mineral/ore and clawdd - ditch/earthwork. I'm going to focus on the second element first and will come back to the first dreckly. Clawdd comes from the Proto-Celtic *klādo- meaning ditch - clearly this word hasn't changed much over the years (compare the Cornish kleudh - ditch and the Breton kleuz - hollow/cave/hole/pit). The Proto-Celtic is decended from the Proto-Indo-European klād-.

The mwyn has a bit of a different story to tell. Mwyn is decended from the Proto-Brythonic muɨn along with the Cornish moon and the Irish méin, all meaning ore. The Proto-Brythonic, logically, comes from the Proto-Celtic mēnis. Here the story takes an unexpected turn. From the Proto-Celtic comes the Gaulish word: ménan (ore). The Late Latin word mina is a descendant of this, which in turn gave French the word mine. You can probably see where this is going now, yes? Because from the French mine English takes its word mine! (Also the German Mine). So, the Celts can lay claim to the word mine as well as being some of the greatest miners also! 

A Cornish cognate of the Welsh mwynglawdd is mengleudh. Despite their similar appearances convey slightly different ideas. The Cornish is made up of men - stone and kleudh - ditch (see above). A stone-ditch, therefore would be a quarry - compare with the Breton mengleuz - quarry/mine. In Welsh the word for quarry is chwarel, sometimes cwarel, cloddfa or maengloddfa and other regional varieties. The standard word is decended from the Latin quarreria - a place where stones are squared. This can be compared to cloddfa/maengloddfa which mean digging place and stone digging place respectively. The Cornish word kwarel cognates to the Welsh and is probably decended from a similar root, however it means pane - My guess being something square?

These etymological maps confuse the heck out of me, so I've tried to illustrate this one to make it more (or maybe less) clear, enjoy!