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Celtic Pathways - Birches
Season 1 Episode 92
In this episode we unearth the Celtic roots of words for birch (tree) in various languages.
The Proto-Celtic word *betuyā means birch tree, and comes from Proto-Indo-European *gʷetu-yo-s, from *gʷet- (resin, gum) [source].
Descendents in the modern Celtic languages include:
- beith = birch (tree), letter B in Ogham (ᚁ) in Irish
- beithe [behə] birch, birch wood/forest in Scottish Gaelic
- beih = birch (tree) in Manx
- bedw [ˈbɛdʊ] = birch(es), birch grove, maypole, birch-rod in Welsh
- besow = birches in Cornish
- bezv [ˈbɛ(z)w] = birches in Breton
More details of words for birch in Celtic languages can be found in the Celtiadur post Birch (trees).
Words from the same Proto-Celtic roots, via Gaulish *bitu/betua and Latin *betius, include betulla (birch) in Italian, bouleau (birch) in French, βετούλη (vetoúli – birch) in Greek, and abedul (birch) in Spanish [source].
The botanical Latin name for the genus, Betula (birch), also comes from the same roots [source].
Incidentally, the English word birch comes from Middle English birche (birch), from Old English bierċe (birch), from Proto-West Germanic *birkijā (birch), from Proto-Germanic *birkijǭ (birch), from PIE *bʰerHǵos (birch), from *bʰerHǵ- (to shine, to gleam, whiten) [source].
Words from the same roots possibly include: bredh (fir tree) in Albanian, björk (birch) in Swedish, béržas (birch) in Lithuanian and březen (March) in Czech [source].
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