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Brythonic

Brythonic

1 9.9
A group of languages from Britain and Brittany, like Welsh, Cornish, and Breton
  • noun
  • Specialized
: bretón
  • Scholars study Brythonic to understand the evolution of Celtic languages and cultures.

Examples

  • The "craic" is a Gaelic term, whereas the "hwyl" comes from the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages and means "a feeling of emotional motivation and energy."

  • The early Irish and Brythonic cultures believed the year was divided in half.

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  • The Brythonic language has ancient roots in the Celtic traditions of Wales and Cornwall.

  • Many modern words in Welsh are derived from the Brythonic languages of the past.

Synonyms

Brittanic
vsBrythonic
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of southern Celtic languages that includes Welsh, Cornish and Breton

is the same group but uses the alternative traditional name

Surface Forms

Brythonic singular
Brythonics plural

Morphology

Brythonic = Brython + ic

Formed from an ethnonymal base ('Brython') plus the adjectival suffix '-ic', but the base is not a productive or recognizable English headword, so learners cannot reliably infer the meaning from its parts.

Etymology

Brythonic comes from the old name for the people of 'Britain', shown in words like Briton and British. So, Brythonic names the group of Celtic languages those people spoke, which today includes Welsh, Cornish and Breton.