In this episode we discover the Celtic roots of words for quay, jetty, pier, etc. in English, French and other languages.

Bangor Pier. Photo by Simon Ager

The Proto-Celtic word *kagyom means pen or enclosure, and comes from the Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (enclosure, hedge), from *kagʰ- (to keep, hold, close, enclose, fence, hedge, barrier, field, pasture) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

• cae [kaːɨ̯ / kai̯] = hedge, fence, field, enclosure, circle, sphere, barrier, obstruction in Welsh
• ke = hedge, fence in Cornish
• kae [kɛː] = hedge, quay in Breton

For more about words for field and related things in Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post: Fields, Meadows and Pastures.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Gaulish *kagyom (enclosure) and Latin caium (storehouse, shop, workshop, quay, wharf) include quai (quay, wharf, platform) in French, quay in English, caes (quay, pier, wharf, breakwater) in Galician, cais (quay, pier, wharf, platform) in Portuguese, кей (kej – quay, pier, wharf, jetty) in Bulgarian, and cé (quay, wharf, pier) in Irish [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include hedge and inchoate (chaotic, disordered, confused) in English, haie (hedge, obstacle, line, row) and age (beam, shaft) in French, cael (to get, receive, have) and caer (fort[ress], castle, citadel) in Welsh, and häck (hedge, hurdle) in Swedish [source].

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