Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/wrigants

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Alternative forms

*wriggant-^[1]

Etymology

Unknown. Pokorny suggests Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis (“worm”),^[2] but Matasović dismisses the similarity as “probably accidental” and instead suggests a non-Indo-European substrate.^[1] Less supported possibilities include Proto-Indo-European *werg- (“to suffer”)^[3] and *wreyḱ- (“to bend, twist”).

Noun

*wrigants f

vermin

Inflection

Masculine/feminine consonant stem
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	*wrigants	*wrigante	*wrigantes
vocative	*wrigants	*wrigante	*wrigantes
accusative	*wrigantam	*wrigante	*wrigantans
genitive	*wrigantos	*wrigantou	*wrigantom
dative	*wrigantei	*wrigantobom	*wrigantobos
locative	*wriganti	—	—
instrumental	*wrigante?	*wrigantobim	*wrigantobis

Descendants

Proto-Brythonic: *gwreɣ
- Middle Breton: gruech (with devoicing due to secondary strengthening)^[4]
  - Breton: gwrec'h
- Middle Welsh: gwre
  - Welsh: gwreinyn, gwraint
Middle Irish: frige (“flesh-worm”), frigde
- Irish: fríd
- Scottish Gaelic: frìde (“a ringworm”)
→ Latin: (Gallo-Latin) brigantēs

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*wrig(g)ant-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 430
^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “1152”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1152
^ MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “frìde”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN, page 181
^ Stifter, David (2023) “The rise of gemination in Celtic”, in Open Research Europe‎^[2], volume 3, number 24, →DOI, page 23

[EDPC-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Matasović, Ranko (2009) “*wrig(g)ant-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 430

[2] Pokorny, Julius (1959) “1152”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1152

[3] MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “frìde”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN, page 181

[4] Stifter, David (2023) “The rise of gemination in Celtic”, in Open Research Europe‎^[2], volume 3, number 24, →DOI, page 23

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