QUIMPER-VANNES

The Picts dominated eastern and northern Scotland up to the 10th century. Although we know little about who the Picts were, we can guess from place name evidence that the now-extinct Pictish language was closely related to Brittonic languages such as Breton, Cornish and Welsh. Pictish settlements, for example, often had Brittonic prefixes such as Aber and Lan , as well as Pit -, a uniquely Pictish prefix indicating a portion or share of land. Aber is a common place name prefix in both Scotland [Aberdeen, Arbroath (Aberbrothick), Aberfeldy, Aberlour, Applecross (Aporcrosan)] and Wales [Aberdare, Abergavenny, Abertawe (Swansea), Aberystwyth]. Although it also occurs in Cornish and Breton, it is relatively rare. Aber means either the mouth of the river or its confluence with the sea and/or other rivers. It comes from an older Brittonic form ad-ber  [ ad - , 'to, together’; beru- 'flow']. So Aberystwyth (on the west coast of Wales), for example, is at the...

Borders are designed to keep people in or to keep people out. We see them everywhere in history: walls, fences, hedges, barbed wire, scorched earth, chicken wire or place names. There are quite a few Breton place names that speak of borders and boundaries. I've listed a few of them below and put some of them together in the map above.  22 (Cotes d'Armor) ÉVRAN   Evrann   [Ivran/Ivram, 12 th C] ‘Borderland’  From G:   iguoranda / equoranda   ‘limit’, ‘boundary’ (of a city/region).   Iguoranda/Equoranda   refers to ‘limits’ and ‘frontiers’ and often corresponds to the boundary between two Gaulish tribes. Évran was on the border between the Redones and Coriosolites, representing a frontier zone between the Gallo-Roman cities of Rennes and Corseul. It now hugs the borderline between the departments of Île-et-Vilaine (35) and Côtes d’Armor (22). See: Évriguet   (56) ; Yvrandes (Normandy); Iguerande (Burgundy). 29  (...

"Venturing outside of Ireland’s best known spots can be daunting tasks for tourists faced with unpronounceable place names such as Dun Laoghaire (Done Leery), Geashill (Gee-shill), and Altmooskan. One of the best things about visiting Ireland, however, is the beauty of these place names and the way in which they describe the area they name. No famous figures or names for us, our place names have passed down through the centuries jam-packed with geographical information. Over the years, especially during British occupation, Irish place names became anglicized as the British attempted to map the land for tax and ownership purposes. The attempts of the British to understand the original Irish names resulted in distorted versions being recorded as English spellings were forced on Irish language place names. There are ways, however, to retrace spellings and place name parts back to the original so as to understand the area more. We look as ten of the most common words used a...

ELEMENT CORNISH WELSH BRETON Arcae/argae OB: arcae , ‘dam’ or ‘embankment’ [W: argae ] Rhyderargeau, Penyrargae, Argae Alwen Erquy (22); Ergué-Gabéric (29) Banadl OB: plu/plou , ‘parish’ and B: banadl, ‘ broom’ [W: banadl/banhadlog, ‘broom’/’broom patch’].  Bonallack Cefn Banadl, Bronbanadl, Maesbanadlog, Banhadlog Bannalec, Plobannalec-Lesconil (29); Plobannalec (56) B angor W: ban, ‘higher’ and W: cor, ‘religious community’, ‘assembly’. Bangor, Bangor Telfi Bangor (56) Beth/bedd OB/B: bed/bez, ‘grave’, ‘tomb’ [OC: beth; W: bedd ].  Trembethow Beddgelert Rospez Bran/brain B: bran/brain , ‘crow/s’ [W: brân/brain; C: bran/brain ]. Brane, Mellanvrane Cwm-Brân, Nant-Brân La Chapelle-de-Brain (35) Brest From OB: bre(st) [W/C: brest ] ‘hill-breast’. Brea Brest Cum-Llwd, Brestbally B...