Words for to speak and related words in Celtic languages.
| Old Irish (Goídelc) | labraithir = to speak, say |
|---|---|
| Irish (Gaeilge) | labhair [l̪ˠəuɾʲ] = to speak, hail |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | labhair [l̪ˠau.ɪrʲ] = to speak, talk, commune |
| Manx (Gaelg) | loayrt = to talk, utter, discourse, pipe up, express |
| Proto-Brythonic | *laβar [laβaːr] = prone to talking, eloquent |
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | llafaru [ɬɛˈvarɨ̞] / ɬɛˈvaːrɪ] = to speak (about), utter, say, tell, declare, express, use (language) in speech; cry out; sound, enunciate, pronounce; dictate |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | leverel [lɛ’vɛrɛl / lə’vɛrɐl] = to say, tell, pronounce |
| Breton (Brezhoneg) | lavaret = to speak |
Etymology: from the Proto-Celtic *ɸlabros = (talkative, arrogant, boastful) [source].
| Old Irish (Goídelc) | asbeir, [asˈbʲerʲ] = to say, utter, mention, speak |
|---|---|
| Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) | atbeir = to say, speak |
| Irish (Gaeilge) | abair [ˈabˠəɾʲ] = to say, utter, speak, express, state, allege, give opinion, suppose, assume, mean, direct, report abairt sentence, phrase abartha given to repartee |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | abair [abɪrʲ] = to say, speak, utter, tell abairt [abər̪ˠʃdʲ] expression, phrase, collocation, saying, comment abartach [abər̪ˠʃdəx] talkative, bold. impudent |
| Manx (Gaelg) | abbyr = to say, state, assume abbyrt = sentence, dialect, phrase, expression, period |
Etymology: from the Proto-Celtic *ess (ex-, out) and *beirid (to carry, bring, bear, give) [source].
| Proto-Celtic | *komweps |
|---|---|
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | comio = to talk converse ymgomio, ymgoniaf = to chat, converse, mention, discuss, dispute, debate |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | kows [kɔʊz] = to speak, talk kewsel [ˈkɛʊzɛl] = to speak, talk |
| Middle Breton | comps = to say, tell, pronounce |
| Breton (Brezhoneg) | komz [ˈkɔ̃ms] = to speak, to express oneself |
Etymology: from the Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- = (to speak) [source].
Words marked with a * are reconstructions.
Sources: Wiktionary, Am Faclair Beag, Online Manx Dictionary, Teanglann.ie, eDIL – Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Gerlyver Kernewek, Dictionaire Favereau, TermOfis