Celtic cognates

The six Celtic languages currently spoken are divided into two branches: Goidelic or Gaelic, and Brythonic or British. The former branch consists of Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic, while the latter branch includes Welsh, Cornish and Breton.

While there are many similarities between the languages in each branch, there are fewer similiarities between the two branches as they have had thousands of years to grow apart.

Celtic cognates

Adjectives | Conjunctions | Pronouns | Verbs | People | Animals | Birds | Sea creatures | Parts of the body | Colours | Numbers | Time expressions | Musical terms | Trees | Weather | Other words

Celtiadur

A collection of Celtic cognates, with definitions, pronunciation, etymologies - includes the modern Celtic languages, older versions of these languages, such as Middle Welsh, Old Irish, and their extinct and reconstructed relatives and ancestors, including Gaulish, Celtiberian, Proto-Brythonic and Proto-Celtic.

Words marked with an asterisk are archaic and/or used only in place names. The Cornish words shown are in the Standard Written Form (Furv Skrifys Savonek) of Cornish. The Breton words are in Peurunvan/Modern Standard Spelling.

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Celtic cognates

Adjectives | Conjunctions | Pronouns | Verbs | People | Animals | Birds | Sea creatures | Parts of the body | Colours | Numbers | Time expressions | Musical terms | Trees | Weather | Other words

Celtiadur

A collection of Celtic cognates, with definitions, pronunciation, etymologies - includes the modern Celtic languages, older versions of these languages, such as Middle Welsh, Old Irish, and their extinct and reconstructed relatives and ancestors, including Gaulish, Celtiberian, Proto-Brythonic and Proto-Celtic.

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If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.

Links

Stòr-fhaclan Co-dhàimheil Ceilteach (Database of Celtic cognates)
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/faclair/scc/lorg.php

McBain's Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/

Names of animals, birds and other creatures in Cornish
https://kw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devnydhyer:DavydhT/Kyst_Tewes/Kalendar_Trest_Bewnans_Gwyls_Kernow

Geirfa Natur (Nature Glossary) - words for animals, birds, fish and other creatures in the modern Celtic language (Excel format, provided by Gwyn Harrison)

• A comparison of the six modern Celtic languages
• Celtic cognates - words that are similar in the Celtic languages
• Celtiadur - a dictionary of Celtic cognates

Information about Celtic languages

Breton, Celtiberian, Cornish, Cumbric, Gaulish, Irish, Lepontic, Lusitanian, Manx, Scottish Gaelic, Tartessian, Welsh

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