melhwes
Cornish
Etymology
From Middle Cornish molhouez, from Proto-Brythonic *melw- (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *meldo- (“pleasant, mild”), *mlido (“soft”), from Proto-Indo-European *ml̥dus (“soft, weak”). Cognate with Breton melc'hwed and Welsh malwod. Related to Breton melw (“snot”).
Noun
melhwes (collective, singulative melhwesen f or melhwyjen f)
- snails
- Synonym: bulhornes
- slugs
- Synonyms: melhwennow, gluthvelhwennow
Mutation
| unmutated | soft | aspirate | hard | mixed | mixed after 'th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| melhwes | velhwes | unchanged | unchanged | felhwes | velhwes |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Further reading
- Matasović, Ranko (2009), “meldo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 262