Few

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

words are known to come directly from Brittonic. More can be proven to derive from Gaulish, which arrived through Norman French, often strengthened in form and use by Church/state

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. This list omits words of Celtic origin coming from later forms of Brittonic and intermediate tongues: * See

Gaulish Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...

(e.g. ''ambassador'', ''bound'', ''car'', ''carpenter'', ''piece''), via Norman/Old French *Other

Continental Celtic The Continental Celtic languages are the now-extinct group of the Celtic languages that were spoken on the continent of Europe and in central Anatolia, as distinguished from the Insular Celtic languages of the British Isles and Brittany. ''Contine ...

(e.g. ''down''), via Germanic * See List of English words of Welsh origin a list which includes Cornish (e.g. ''coracle''; ''crag''; ''corgi'' (type of dog), likely ''flannel''; likely ''gull'' (type of bird), ''iron'', ''lawn'', ''wrasse'' (type of fish)) * See

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

(e.g. ''keening'', ''bog'', ''bother'', ''hubbub'', ''glen'', ''clan'') * See

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

(chiefly local terms in archaeology: ''dolmen'', ''menhir'')

List

Academia recognises beyond all reasonable doubt "fewer than ten" Brittonic loan-words in English that are neither historic nor obsolete. The following list derives mainly from surveys of possible Brittonic loanwords in English by

Richard Coates Richard Coates (born 16 April 1949, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, and educated at Wintringham School) is an English linguist. He was Professor of Linguistics (alternatively Professor of Onomastics) at the University of the West of England, Bristol, ...

, Dieter Kastovsky, and D. Gary Miller. Etymologies from the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' are included to indicate the view of this authoritative (but not necessarily definitive) source, distinguishing between the first, second, third and online editions. Words that are the most widely accepted as Brittonic loans are in bold. In extinct uses, seven main others are proposed, mainly by

Andrew Breeze Andrew Breeze FRHistS FSA (born 1954), has been professor of philology at the University of Navarra since 1987. Early life Breeze was born in 1954 and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School, the University of Oxford and the University of C ...

, seen in

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

. Though less controversial than others, some of the seven have been disputed: ; ''funta'': 'fountain, spring.' Latin ''fontana'' and Church Latin (still used) ''font'' loaned into Brittonic and borrowed from either/both into Old English. Used in nine sets of settlements across counties west of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and east of

Gillingham, Dorset Gillingham ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. It lies on the B3095 and B3081 roads, approximately south of the A303 road, A303 trunk road and northwest of Shaftesbury. It is the most northerly town i ...

: (''

Bedfont Bedfont is a suburb in the London Borough of Hounslow, approximately west of Centre of London, Charing Cross. Originally a distinct village, Bedfont has a large central conservation area around Bedfont Green. The majority of the housing was bui ...

, (the) Chalfont(s),

Mottisfont Mottisfont is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, approximately 7 km north west of Romsey. The village is best known as the location of Mottisfont Abbey. Much of the surrounding land, which is part ...

, Fonthill Bishop,

Fontmell Magna Fontmell Magna is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale, close to the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase, on the A350 road south of Shaftesbury and north of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census ...

, Fontwell,

Teffont Teffont is a civil parish in the south of Wiltshire, England, consisting of the villages of Teffont Magna and Teffont Evias. It is in the Nadder valley, north of the river, about west of Salisbury. The parish was created in 1934 by combining ...

and Urchfont''). Phrase the 'fount of all wisdom/knowledge' is cognate, seen to endure as a shorthand, poetic form of fountain. ; ''luh'': 'pool', in use in the Northumbrian dialect of Old English. The modern English cognate, 'loch', is taken from Scottish Gaelic. ; ''milpæþ'': 'army road', the first element of which is possibly from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh ''mil'' 'thousand, army'. ; ''prass'': 'pomp, array', perhaps from the Brittonic ancestor of Welsh ''pres'' 'soldiers in array'. ; ''stor'': 'incense, wax'. However, the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' regards it as a Latin loan. ; ''toroc'': 'bung.' Highly disputed. Possibly not even an English word─or an English word but not of Celtic origin. ; ''wassenas'': 'retainers', possibly from Brittonic.Andrew Breeze, 'Old English ''Wassenas'' "retainers" in Godpatrick's Writ', ''Notes and Queries'', 39.3 37(1992), 272-75.

References

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External links

Why Don't the English Speak Welsh? - Hildegard Tristram
British

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See also

References

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