Middle Welsh dihynnyon ‘fragments, bits of meat’ and Breton dienn, Cornish dehen ‘cream’
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This paper argues for an interpretation of Middle Welsh dihynnion as ‘skimmings’, i.e. ‘scum and fat skimmed from the cooking-pot’, rather than the traditional ‘fragments, bits of meat’. With this interpretation, Middle Welsh dihynnion can be connected to the otherwise etymologically isolated Breton dienn and Cornish dehen ‘cream’. All three words are derived from a Proto-Brittonic compound verb *di-hɪnn- ‘to skim, to scoop off’ which in turn ultimately stems from the Proto-Celtic verbal root *sem- ‘to pour, to scoop’.
Source: Studia Celtica Fennica
DOI: 10.33353/scf.145653
Author: Anders Jorgensen
Institution: Uppsala University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4404065434