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Help[Facts] Re: Welsh/druid names
in reply to a message by Shadowfax
A lot of tree/plant names have had their application changed over the centuries, particularly in Welsh (they get applied to local plants unrelated to the original but sharing some particular attribute). I read a paper a while ago arguing that the original Celtic word for rowan was a significant name element but was now applied to quite different and unassuming plants in Welsh and Irish.
Holly is celyn, From Proto-Celtic *kolinnos (compare Old Irish cuilenn m (“(wood of the) holly-tree”), Cornish kelyn, Breton kelenn). The old British/Irish *Colinos is found in several names in different forms (the i causes varying degrees of umlaut and breaking of the o), from a late 5th century inscription "CUNORIX MACUS MAQVI COLINE" (macus and maqui represent different cases of the same Q-Celtic [Gaelic or Celtiberian) word for "son") and to the names of early "Saxon" kings Ceaulin and Ceol (in contemporary terms kings of the Gewisse). In Welsh though it has switched genders.
Holly is celyn, From Proto-Celtic *kolinnos (compare Old Irish cuilenn m (“(wood of the) holly-tree”), Cornish kelyn, Breton kelenn). The old British/Irish *Colinos is found in several names in different forms (the i causes varying degrees of umlaut and breaking of the o), from a late 5th century inscription "CUNORIX MACUS MAQVI COLINE" (macus and maqui represent different cases of the same Q-Celtic [Gaelic or Celtiberian) word for "son") and to the names of early "Saxon" kings Ceaulin and Ceol (in contemporary terms kings of the Gewisse). In Welsh though it has switched genders.
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