Sunday, August 14, 2011

Six, in my words

sixchae : six

The Fennas word for six is chae. Chae is a last name that can be Korean. Chaé Organics of Colorado sells skin and body products. Khao chae is a Thai flower-scented rice dish.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for six is chwech; the Breton word for six is c'hwec'h; and the Irish word for six is sé.

My previous Fennas word for six was chea.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Five, in my words

fivecump : five

The Fennas word for five is cump. Cump is a last name. Union Civil War General William T. Sherman was known as Cump.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for five is pump; the Breton word for five is pemp; and the Irish word for five is cúig.

My previous Fennas word for five was puim.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Four, in my words

fourpehar : four

The Fennas word for four is pehar. Pehar is an unusual last name. In Serbo-Croatian pehar means cup, goblet. Pehar is a city in Pakistan.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for four is pedwar/pedair; the Breton word for four is pevar/peder; and the Irish word for four is ceathair.

My previous Fennas word for four was cair.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Three, in my words

threeteir : three

The Fennas word for three is teir. Teir is a last name. In Breton teir is the feminine form of three, tri is the masculine form. In Faroese teir means they.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for three is tri/tair; the Breton word for three is tri/teir; and the Irish word for three is trí.

My previous Fennas word for three was teil.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Two, in my words

twodho : two

The Fennas word for two is dho. Dho is a rare last name. DHO is the chemical formula for a species of Heavy water with one Hydrogen atom and one Deuterium atom.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for two is dau/dwy, the Irish word for two is dhá/dó, and the Breton word for two is div/daou.

My previous Fennas word for two was daw.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

One, in my words

oneuan : one

The Fennas word for one is uan. Uan is an unusual last name. In Irish and Scottish Gaelic uan means lamb. Uan is the name of cities in Ethiopia and Papua New Guinea.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for one is un, the Irish word for one is aon, and the Breton word for one is unan.

My previous Fennas word for one was arn.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Dog, in my words

cia : dog

The Fennas word for dog is cia. Cia is an unusual feminine first name. Cia is an unusual last name. CIA is an acronym for the Central Intelligence Agency.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for dog is ci, the Irish word for dog is madra, and the Breton word for dog is ki.

Previously my Fennas word for dog was cadri.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Cat, in my words

cath : cat

The Fennas word for cat is cath. Cath is a last name. Cath means battle in Irish and Scots Gaelic.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for cat is cath, the Irish word for cat is cat(!), and the Breton word for cat is kazh.

Not much to play with here. I haven't been using the letters K or Z, as in the Breton word. Both the Welsh and the Breton words end in H, so I thought I would do that in Fennas. My word for cat ends up being the same as Welsh (and Cornish).

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Gray, in my words

grayliat : gray

The Fennas word for gray is liat. Liat is an uncommon last name. Liat is an unusual feminine first name. LIAT is an acronym for Leeward Islands Air Transport.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for gray is llwyd, the Irish word for gray is liath, and the Breton word for gray is louet.

My previous Fennas word for gray was leit. Not a big change.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Green, in my words

greengwed : green

The Fennas word for green is gwed.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for green is gwyrdd or glas, the Irish word for green is glas or uaine (vivid green), and the Breton word for green is glas or gwer (artifical green). It's interesting to note that glas is a very broad Celtic color term for a darker color, which also means blue and sometimes gray.

Previously my Fennas word for green was gair and glyes.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

White, in my words

whitebyn : white

The Fennas word for the color white is byn. Byn is an uncommon last name. Byn is an unusual first name. In Swedish byn is the definite singular of by which means village. Byn is the name of a number of cities and towns in Sweden.

How did I come up with this word? The word for white in Welsh is gwyn, white in Irish is bán, white in Breton is gwenn.

My previous Fennas word for white was wenn. After some consideration, I decided to change my word to take more from the Irish word. Starting the word for white with W was perhaps too like English. The word for white in French, blanc, also starts with B.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Yellow, in my words

yellowmelui : yellow

The Fennas word for the color yellow is melui. Imloth Melui is a place mentioned in The Lord of the Rings noted for fragrant roses (in Sindarin melui means lovely, sweet). Melui is a city on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

How did I come up with this word? The Welsh word for yellow is melyn, the Irish word for yellow is buí, and the Breton word for yellow is melen.

My previous Fennas word for yellow was melar. The new word starts like the Welsh and Breton words for yellow, and ends like Irish word.