Re: @ -- Words not in English.

["Raymond A. Brown" <raybrown@MACLINE.CO.UK>]

At 20:34 30/4/98, Andrew Smith wrote:
>On Wed, 29 Apr 1998, Raymond A. Brown wrote:
>
>> Sounds exactly like the Welsh word "hiraeth".  This is derived from 'hir' =
>> long.  But not only does it convey the idea of "longing", "looking
>> forward", but also the idea of "nostalgia", "missing something now lost".
>> It's what an ex-patriate may feel for her/his homeland, for example - a
>> feeling of loss mixed with the hope of return.
>>
>Now I wondering how to translate "hiraeth" into Brithenig.  My pocket
>Welsh dictionary says 'hir' is an adjective, and I think 'aeth' is a
>abstract ending, although there is a word 'aeth'= pain.

I think the -aeth is the abstract ending, tho the fact that it coincides
with 'aeth' may well have helped shape its usage.  It looks to me as tho it
might have originally be a calque formed after the English "longing".  If
so, the word has long since left the simple meaning of 'longing' way
behind.

>Possibly
>Brithenig could use "Llongdydd" from longitudinem to mean hiraeth,

Except the Latin means 'length' - the wrong sort of "longness", methinks.

>or "ill
>desir" might have a different semantic meaning to other Romance languages.

Very possible.  The classical Latin 'de:si:derium' in fact has meanings
very similar to "hiraeth".

>
>The closest that Brithenig comes to "hwyl" is ffelictad.  While it
>literally means 'happiness' it must have deeper meaning than the English
>word.  'Moving of spirit', perhaps?

Yep - if Celtic 'hwyl' lived on on the RomanoBritish  ;-)

Ray.

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Written in Net English        Humor not necessarily marked

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