melc'hwed

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *melw- (soft), from Proto-Celtic *meldo- (pleasant, mild), *mlido (soft), from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus (soft, weak); compare Breton melw (snot)); akin to Cornish melhwes, Welsh malwod. Also see Gaulish *multon- (sheep), which could be related. Cf. also Romanian melc (snail).

Noun

melc’hwed f (singulative melc’hwedenn)

  1. snails
  2. slugs

Synonyms

  • (snails): maligorn
  • (slugs): buoc’h lard

Hyponyms

  • melc’hwed krogennek (snail)

Mutation

Mutation of melc'hwed
unmutated soft aspirate hard
singular melc'hwedenn velc'hwedenn unchanged unchanged
plural melc'hwed velc'hwed unchanged unchanged

Further reading

  • Matasović, Ranko (2009) “meldo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 262