benyw

Welsh

Etymology

Nominalized adjective, perhaps from Proto-Brythonic *banuyos,[1]masculine derived from Proto-Celtic *ban-, whence Welsh banon (“maiden queen”), Old Breton ban-doiuis (“goddess”), Old Irish ban-chú (“female dog”);[2] akin to Cornish benow (“feminine, female”).[3] Further related to Old Welsh ben (“woman”), from Proto-Celtic *benā, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn. Doublet of banw.

Pronunciation
  • (North Wales) IPA(key): /ˈbɛnɨ̞u̯/
  • (South Wales) IPA(key): /ˈbeːnɪu̯/, /ˈbɛnɪu̯/
  • Rhymes: -ɛnɨ̞u̯

Noun

benyw f (plural benywod)

  1. woman
    Synonyms: dynes, menyw, merch
  2. female
    Synonym: menyw

Derived terms

Mutation
Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
benyw fenyw menyw unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References
  1. Schrijver, Peter C. H. (1995) Studies in British Celtic historical phonology (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 5), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page 298
  2. Ranko Matasović, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 61.
  3. Dagmar S. Wodtko, Britta Irslinger & Carolin Schneider, eds., Nomina im Indogermanischen Lexikon (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2008), 178, 180n7.
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