cefn

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh keuen, from Proto-Celtic *kebno- (back), related to Breton kein (back), Cornish keyn (back), Gaulish Cebenna (ridge, height) (whence French Cévennes).

Pronunciation

  • (North Wales) IPA(key): /kɛvn/
  • (South Wales) (standard) (colloquial) IPA(key): /kɛvn/, [ˈkʰɛvn̩]
    • (South Wales) (colloquial) IPA(key): /ˈkeːvɛn/, /ˈkɛvɛn/

Noun

cefn m (plural cefnau or cefnoedd)

  1. back, rear; (figuratively) support, second; body as needing clothing, etc.
  2. support, ridge; butt of ploughed land between two parallel furrows; opening furrows of such a butt; (biblical) furlong; vertical fissure or fault in a rock
    1. garden bed
  3. middle, centre

Derived terms

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
cefn gefn nghefn chefn
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

  • cefn”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies, 2014
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