Celtic Pathways – Calamitous Swords

In this episode we discover the possible Celtic roots of some words for sword, hammer and related things in Romance and Slavic languages.

Swords

The Proto-Celtic word *kladiwos means sword, and comes from Proto-Celtic *kladeti (to stab, dig), from Proto-Indo-European *kl̥h₂dʰ-é-ti, from *kelh₂- (to beat, strike) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • claíomh [kl̪ˠiːvˠ/kl̪ˠiːw] = sword in Irish
  • claidheamh [kl̪ˠajəv] = sword in Scottish Gaelic
  • cliwe = sword in Manx
  • cleddyf [ˈklɛðɨ̞v/ˈkleːðɪv] = sword, blade, brace (on a door or wall) in Welsh
  • kledha = sword in Cornish
  • kleze [ˈkleː.ze] = sword, glaive (a light lance with a long, sharp-pointed head) in Breton

For more about words for sword and related things in Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post: Swords & Spikes

Words directly from the same Proto-Celtic root *kladiwos (sword) include kladivo (hammer, gavel) in Croatian, kladivo (hammer, sledgehammer) in Czech, kladivo (hammer, stamp, maul, hammerhead) in Slovak, kladivo (hammer, sledgehammer) in Slovenian [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root *kladiwos (sword), via Gaulish *kladyos (sword), and Latin gladius (sword, death, a gladiatorial contest), possibly include gladiator, gladiolus and glaive in English, esglai (fright) in Catalan, ghiado (sword, dagger, knife, frost, cold), and giaggiolo (iris [flower]) in Italian, gládio (sword, power, strength) in Portuguese and glaïeul (gladiolus) in French [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include calamity, clade, clergy, cleric, clerk, coup, and glaive in English, коля (kolja – to slaughter, butcher) in Bulgarian, kłoda (log, trunk, beehive, barrel) in Polish, and Holz (wood) in German [source].

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Adventures in Etymology – Door

In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re opening doors to find the origins of the word door.

Arched blue door at Dublin City Gallery

A door [dɔː / dɔɹ] is:

  • A portal of entry into a building, room, or vehicle, typically consisting of a rigid plane movable on a hinge. It may have a handle to help open and close, a latch to hold it closed, and a lock that ensures it cannot be opened without a key.

It comes from Middle English dor(e) [ˈdɔːr(ə)] (door), from Old English duru [ˈdu.ru] (door, opening) from Proto-West-Germanic *dur (door, hatch, flap) from Proto-Germanic *durz (door, hatch, flap), from PIE *dʰwer- (door) [source].

Words from the same roots include forum, forensic and thyroid in English, dörr (door) in Swedish, drws (door, doorway) in Welsh, dvor (court, courtyard) in Slovak and ترس (tors – shield, buckler) in Persian [source].

Incidentally, in Old English one word for window was ēagduru [ˈæ͜ɑːɡˌdu.ru], or literally “eye-door”. Another was ēagþyrel [ˈæ͜ɑːɡˌθy.rel], or “eye-hole” [source].

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I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.

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Episode 23 – Czech (čeština)

In this episode I talk about the Czech language (čeština / český jazyk). I give an overview of the language itself, talk about my efforts to learn it.

Examples of Czech noun cases

  • Nominative: () ji vidím = I see her
  • Genitive: Její květy jsou modré = Her flowers are blue
  • Dative: Dávám květiny = I give her flowers
  • Accusative: Ona vidí = She sees me
  • Vocative: Ahoj Evo = Hi Eva
  • Locative: Jsem doma = I am at home
  • Instrumental: Ona cestuje autobusem = She is travelling by bus

Some Czech tongue twisters without vowels

Source: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strč_prst_skrz_krk
Translations and recordings by Rhee Diculous

More Czech tongue twisters

Information about Czech

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/czech.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_orthography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_phonology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czech_conjugation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Czech_language

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Tunes features in this episode

Hedge Cats / Cathod y Gwyrch (played on the cavaquinho)

See the score for this piece

Hajej, můj zlatouškou (a Czech lullaby)

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