Re: Celtic word for "tree"

Sgrìobh Ray:
> BTW I note the subject line is 'Celtic word for
> "tree"' - and we haven't had the word yet! The
> closest is the root *k_wrenn-, thus Irish & Scots
> Gaelic _crann_ "tree", Welsh & Cornish _pren_ "tree".
> But it's not the normal word in Welsh or Cornish.
Just in the interest of nitpicking :) -- _crann_ is not the usual word
for tree in Scots Gaelic either; the usual word is _craobh_ (which in
Irish means "branch" or "bough"). The word _crann_ is still used in SG
in the names of certain trees, and also in other meanings such as "mast"
(i.e. of a ship) and "bar" (i.e. the big heavy thing used to keep doors
shut), where interestingly the implication of being made of wood is not
necessarily there anymore, e.g. "Bha stiùir òir oirre 's dà chrann
airgid" ("She had a gold rudder and two silver masts") from the Barra
folk song "'Ic Iarla nam Bratach Bana" ("Son of the Earl of the White
Banners").

Thomas
(Gaelic geek)

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