gwddf

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Welsh

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *wodwos (“spoils”), whence also Old Irish fodb (“spoils”), from the practice of counting captives as "so many necks".[1] *wudwos may be related to Proto-Celtic *wodwo- (“cutting”) (whence Old Irish fodb in the sense of "division"), with semantic shift "cutting" > "weapon" > "weapon-spoils" > "spoils" (though these shifts are not straightforward). If so, then the root ultimately goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wedʰH- (“strike”), whence gwasgu (“to press”), Lithuanian vedegà (“a kind of axe”), Sanskrit वध् (vadh, “to strike, slay”), Tocharian A wac (“struggle”).[2]

The variant gwddwg is cognate with Old Breton guodoc (Middle Breton gouzouc, Breton gouzoug, goûg), but it is difficult to explain the alternation between -wg, -w, and -f. The oldest form of the word cited in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru is the Middle Welsh plural form gedueu (13th century; = modern gyddfau), while the soft mutation forms wðwc, wddf, and wddw are all attested in the 14th century, indicating that the alternation is very old.

Pronunciation

Noun

gwddf m (plural gyddfau)[3]

  1. neck
    Synonym: mwnwgl
  2. (North Wales) throat
    Synonym: llwnc (South Wales)

Derived terms

Mutation

Mutated forms of gwddf
radical soft nasal aspirate
gwddf wddf ngwddf unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

  1. ^ O'Brien, M. A. (1956) “Etymologies and Notes”, in Celtica, volume 3, page 181.
  2. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 426-7
  3. ^ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “gwddf”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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