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In this episode we uncover the Celtic roots of words for oar, to row and related things in Basque.
The Proto-Celtic word *rāmyos means oar, spade or shovel and comes from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (to row) [source].
Descendants in the modern Celtic languages include:
- rámh [ɾˠɑːv] = oar in Irish
- ràmh [r̪ˠaːv] = oar, paddle in Scottish Gaelic
- raue = rowing in Manx
- rhaw [r̥aːu̯] = shovel, spade in Welsh
- reuv = shovel in Cornish
- roev = spade in Breton
Words from the same Proto-Celtic root include arraun (oar, rowing), arraundu (to row), arrauean (rowing), arraunlari (rower, oarsman), and arraunontzi (rowing boat, rowboat) in Basque [source].
Words from the same PIE root include row, rudder and trireme (a galley with three banks of oars) in English, riem (oar, paddle) in Dutch, rojen (to row) in German, remiero (rowing) in Italian, radeau (raft) in French [source].
The name Russia also comes from the same PIE roots, via Medieval Latin Russia, Old East Slavic Русь (Rusĭ – inhabitants of Rus*), Byzantine Greek Ῥῶς (Rhôs – Rus), probably Proto-Finnic *roocci (person from the coast of Roden, later a Swede), Old East Norse *roþs- (related to rowing); Old Norse róðr (steering oar), and Proto-Germanic *rōþrą (rudder) [source].
*Rus refers to Kievan Rus’, the medieval East Slavic state established by Scandinavian warrior merchants in the 9th century, whose capital was in Кꙑевъ (Kyjevŭ – Kyiv), and the inhabitants of this state [more details].
Moreover, words for Sweden and Swedish in Finnic and Sami languages come from the same PIE roots, and include ruotsi (Swedish [language]) in Finnish, Rootsi (Sweden) in Estonian, and Ruoŧŧa (Sweden) in Northern Sámi [source].
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