[Spellyans] "Tribe"

[Daniel Prohaska]

Craig, 

Thanks for another one of your gems… 

> On 12.02.2020, at 21:40, Craig Weatherhill <craig at agantavas.org> wrote:
> 
> In ‘Desky Kernowek’, Nicholas cites two words to translate “tribe”: Nance’s <lyth> (< OC <leid>), and <tryb> (Tregear’s <trib>), but there is a third noun that we could readily use in revived Cornish.

Yes, the OC has ‹leid›, which Ken George and José Calvete have both emended to *loid, which would tie into Welsh ‹llwyth› and Old Irish ‹lucht›, as well as Gaulish ‹luxtos›. Perhaps assuming this emendation from ei to *oi is, though possible, not necessary as we have Middle Breton ‹leiz› (Modern Breton ‹leizh›), so a Cornish *leyth is conceivable. The ei > *oi theory may be supported by another word in the OC ‹luid› “procinctus/furdlingc” meaning “battle-aray”, though this invites questioning.  

> This word is <cordh> (commonly reducing to <cor’>), pl. <corthow>, gender unclear.
> 

This word is usually given as masculine in the Cornish dictionaries, but Welsh ‹cordd› is feminine. 

> It occurs in two Cornish place-names: Trigg (pagus Tricurius C7; Trigorscire c.881), the Hundred or Keverang of North Cornwall; and Langorthou 1310, the site of Fowey church.  It also occurs in Brittany as Trégor, evidently and like Kernev and Domnonèe,  a cross-channel transference.
> 
> <cordh, cor’> also forms part of OC <coscor>, “family, retinue” (place-name: Bownds an Coscar, Towednack 1672); and MC <corlan>, “cemetery” (Welsh: <corddlan>).  Translating as “clan, tribe, family, army”, <cordh> has cognates in Welsh <cordd>, Old Breton <cor> and early Irish <cuire>, “host, troop”.
> 
> In the name Trigg, this indicates a Hundred or Keverang that could muster three war-hosts and interestingly enough, this component of Cornwall’s original six Hundreds was later divided into three (Trigg, Lesnewth and Stratton).  Indeed <keverang> itself has cognates in Welsh (<cyfrang>, “meeting, encounter, battle”) and Middle Breton (<cuuranc> “military assembly”).  In Roman Gaul, we also find the Tricorii and the Petrucorii.
> 
> It’s also interesting that in these names <try, tri> does not cause 3rd state mutation, but 2nd state.  Furthermore, where it occurs in the hill name Dry Carn (Tricarn 1300), “three (Bronze Age) cairns”, it causes no mutation at all in 6 surviving attestations spanning as many centuries.
> 
> I see no reason why <cordh, cor’>, pl. <cordhow> “tribe, clan, war-host” cannot be accepted into revived Cornish.
> 
> Craig

There are more words that have been used for “tribe” is Cornish: 

‹ehen› “sort; variety; kind; class; manner; genus; clan; tribe; species; family; kindred; kin; category; genre; strain; type.”

‹gwely› “bed; layer; stratum; tribe; family; afterbirth; placenta.”

‹kenedhel› “(age-group of family) generation; clan; tribe; kindred; kinsfolk; nation; (kind) race.” 

‹kiwses› “(political) state; nation; people; community; tribe; citizens.” (analogous to Welsh ‹ciwdod› < Latin ‹civitate(m)›). 

‹cor(dh)› and ‹leyth› which you already mentioned. 

‹pobel› “people; folk; race; public; populace; nation; tribe; crowd; inhabitants.” 

‹trib› “tribe; nation; genus.”

‹tüs› “men; people; persons; folk; humans; human beings; guys; mortals; personages; populace; tribe; family; relatives; nation; wights.” 

Dan

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