Today we’re looking at the words for fern, bracken and related things in Celtic languages.
| Proto-Celtic | *ɸratis, *frati- = fern, bracken |
|---|---|
| Gaulish | ratis = fern, bracken |
| Old Irish (Goídelc) | raithnech [ˈr͈aθʲnʲex] = fern, bracken |
| Middle Irish (Gaoidhealg) | raith = fern, bracken |
| Irish (Gaeilge) | raithneach = fern, bracken raithneachán = ferny place raithneachúil = ferny |
| Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) | raineach [r̪ˠan̪ʲəx] = fern, bracken; hashish, weed raith [r̪ˠɛ] = fern, bracken raineachail = abounding in fern, ferny, like fern |
| Manx (Gaelg) | renniagh = fern, bracken renniaghoil = ferny |
| Proto-Brythonic | *rrėdɨn = ferns, bracken |
| Middle Welsh (Kymraec) | rhedyn = ferns, bracken retinoc, redinauc, rhydynog = ferny |
| Welsh (Cymraeg) | rhedyn [ˈr̥ɛdɨ̞n / ˈr̥eːdɪn] = ferns, bracken rhedynen = fern rhedyn eryraidd = bracken rhedyna = to gather ferms rhedynaidd = ferny rhedyneg = ferny ground rhedynog = ferny (land), abounding with ferns, fern-like, made of fern |
| Old Cornish | reden = ferns, bracken redenen = fern |
| Middle Cornish | reden = ferns, bracken redenen, redanen = fern |
| Cornish (Kernewek) | reden = ferns, bracken redenen = fern |
| Middle Breton | reden = ferns, bracken radenenn = fern |
| Breton (Brezhoneg) | raden = ferns, bracken radenenn = fern |
Etymology: from the Proto-Indo-European *p(t)erH- (fern) [source].
The English word fern comes from the same PIE root, via the Old English fearn and the Proto-West-Germanic *farn [source].
Other words from the same PIE root include paparde (fern) in Latvian, paproć (fern) in Polish, and папрат (fern) in Bulgarian [source].
Words marked with a * are reconstructions.
Sources: Wiktionary, Am Faclair Beag, Online Manx Dictionary, Teanglann.ie, eDIL – Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language, In Dúil Bélrai English – Old Irish glossary, Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru, Gerlyver Kernewek, Gerlyvyr Cernewec, Dictionaire Favereau, TermOfis, Le dictionnaire diachronique du breton, Geriafurch, English – ProtoCeltic WordList (PDF), Etymological Dictionary Of Proto Celtic
In Swedish \’fern\’ is \’ormbunke\’ (which could be literally translated as \’snake-bowl\’,
though I do not think that the \’-bunke\’ is the same word as \’bunke\’ for a larger bowl).
The \’orm-\’ part comes from the same root as English \’worm\’, but in Swedish it has become the word for \’snake\’ instead of \’worm\’ (which is \’mask\’).
\’Bracken\’ is \’bräken\’, which obviously comes from the same root as the English word.
Simon, when I saw the title of your post, “Ferns and Bracken”, I couldn’t help amuse myself with the notion that the real title was, “Burn and Fracken”. So much so that this hypothetical title got stuck in my head like bad elevator music.
Yeah, yeah, always a wise-guy. I know.
Go ahead, smile. It’s allowed. You have the day off :-))
Robert