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Hi there! I'm kind of confused about these names. This web site and others list both Brian and Brynn as meaning "hill", but Brian is Irish and English and Brynn is Welsh. Why is this? They seem so similar and the language root is the same. Is Brian really Irish and Brynn Welsh? Are the languages that similar? Thanks for any help!!
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Replies
The languages are very similar!
Hell, I speak french, and from this I can read spanish, latin and portugese usually. The languages are that similar. As for the names, just looking at the website, brynn is the very word for, or a word for hill/mound in the Welsh dialect, but Brian isn't a word, it is from the Old Celtic bre, and 'an' a common suffix was added to create a name. The common part, 'bre' is probably interelated between the languages.
~SD
Hell, I speak french, and from this I can read spanish, latin and portugese usually. The languages are that similar. As for the names, just looking at the website, brynn is the very word for, or a word for hill/mound in the Welsh dialect, but Brian isn't a word, it is from the Old Celtic bre, and 'an' a common suffix was added to create a name. The common part, 'bre' is probably interelated between the languages.
~SD
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Additionally...
They think that most European languages (French, Spanish, Irish, Welsh, English, Iranian, Indian, and some Asian dialects) descended from one parent language thousands of years ago, called (by linguists) Indo-European. Which is why many languages appear so similar--they're etymological cousins.
Miranda
They think that most European languages (French, Spanish, Irish, Welsh, English, Iranian, Indian, and some Asian dialects) descended from one parent language thousands of years ago, called (by linguists) Indo-European. Which is why many languages appear so similar--they're etymological cousins.
Miranda
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Furthermore
All languages ultimately derive or inter-relate to each other from influence. There are some more isolated groups though, like oriental, indo-european and african etc
thanks miranda ^_^
~SD
All languages ultimately derive or inter-relate to each other from influence. There are some more isolated groups though, like oriental, indo-european and african etc
thanks miranda ^_^
~SD
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Thanks guys! It just seemed odd that the names are so similar but not from the same language.
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Well, they aren't from the same language but they are from related languages. Celt languages today can be divided into Brythonic/British (P-Celtic if you want to sound very science-y ;o) - Welsh, Cornish, Breton and Goidelic/Gallic (Q-Celtic) - Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Manx (Isle of Man).
So 'hill' is today in...
Brythonic:
Welsh - bryn
Cornish - bre/bron
Gallic:
Irish - cnoc
Scottish - cnoc
Manx - cronk, knock
Now where the idea that Brian meant 'hill' came from is beyond me. The official stance of etymology is that it's unknown but *probably* from the Old Celtic for 'high, noble'. I suppose they're assuming a connection to beann/beinn (top, peak) but that's still nothing more than assumption...though if all one wants is a straightforward 'meaning', full-on accurate or not, it'll do nicely.
Devon
So 'hill' is today in...
Brythonic:
Welsh - bryn
Cornish - bre/bron
Gallic:
Irish - cnoc
Scottish - cnoc
Manx - cronk, knock
Now where the idea that Brian meant 'hill' came from is beyond me. The official stance of etymology is that it's unknown but *probably* from the Old Celtic for 'high, noble'. I suppose they're assuming a connection to beann/beinn (top, peak) but that's still nothing more than assumption...though if all one wants is a straightforward 'meaning', full-on accurate or not, it'll do nicely.
Devon
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