Celtic Pathways – New & Year
In this episode we are looking into words for new and year in Celtic languages. One Proto-Celtic word for new is *nouyos, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *néw(y)os (new), from which most words for new in Indo-European languages are descended [Source]. Related words in modern Celtic language include: * nua [n̪ˠuə / n̪ˠuː] = new, fresh, recent, novel; newness, new thing in Irish * nuadh [nuəɣ] = new, fresh, recent, novel, modern, unfamiliar in Scottish Gaelic * noa = fresh, modern, new, novel, original, recent, unused in Manx * newydd [ˈnɛu̯.ɨ̞ð] = new, recent, newly-grown, modern, late, novel, changed, fresh in Welsh * nowydh = fresh, new, novel, newly, just in Cornish * nevez [ˈne.ve] = new in Breton The town of Noia in A Coruña in Galicia in the northwest of Spain probably gets its name from the same Proto-Celtic root, possibly via the Celtiberian nouiza [Source]. Another Proto-Celtic word for new is *ɸūros, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *puHrós (wheat), possibly from *pewH- (to be clean, pure) [Source]. Related words in modern Celtic language include: * úr [uːɾˠ] = fresh; free, liberal, moist in Irish * ùr [uːr] = new, fresh in Scottish Gaelic * oor = new, sweet, novel, sappy, crisp, span, fresh, hour, raw in Manx * ir [iːr] = verdant, green, juicy, sappy, moist, succulent in Welsh * yr [ɪ:r/iːr] = fresh in Cornish Words from the same PIE roots include pure in English, პური (ṗuri – bread, wheat) in Georgian, and պուրի (puri – a type of Georgian bread) in Armenian [Source]. In Proto-Celtic words for year were *blēdanī/*bleido. which possibly come from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰloyd- (pale) [source]. Related words in modern Celtic language include: * bliain [bʲlʲiənʲ] = year in Irish * bliadhna [bliən̪ˠə] = year, vintage in Scottish Gaelic * blein = [blʲeːnʲ / blʲiᵈn] = year, twelvemonth in Manx * blwyddyn [ˈblʊɨ̯ðɨ̞n] = year, a long time, ages; lifetime, life in Welsh * bledhen = year in Cornish * bloavezh = year in Breton Words from the same PIE root include бледный (pale) in Russian, бледен (pale, pallied, insignificant) in Bulgarian, and bledý (pale) in Czech [source]. More details of new and year-related words in Celtic languages can be found on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog. You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail. If you would like to support this podcast,