Kythish lexicon

This is a list of Kythish words.

Entries are ordered thus: spelling /pronunciation/ part of speech definition — notes & etymology. Where irregular forms are listed, only the relevant inflections are given. Pronunciations are broadly transcribed, with canonical, phonemic values.

n. = noun; v. = verb; a. = adjective or adverb; p. = pronoun (personal, interrogative or demonstrative); c. = conjunction; f. = affix; i. = interjection

dial. = dialectal; colloq. = colloquial; irreg. = irregular; obs. = obsolete

a

• aaś /æːʃ/ n. The letter a. — Old English æsc, ash (see aś). Long vowel is common to all letter names.
• abawƿ /ˈæbæʊw/ n. Apple. — Either Old English æppel or Welsh afal. Influence of both is likely.
• -an /æn/ f. Marks the infinitive of verbs. — Irregular derivation of Old English -an.
• aŋywƿ /ˈæŋəʊw/ n. Angel; saintly person. — Old English ængel, variant of engel, angel.
• asće /ˈæsxə/ n. Ash (dust formed from burning). — Old English æsce, ashes.
• aś¹ /æʃ/ n. Ash tree; pole or pole-arm. — Old English æsc, ash.
• aś² /æʃ/ p. dial. I. — Metropolitan variant of eś, q.v.
• awgoŋ /ˈæʊɡɔŋ/ n. Exit, out-door. — Old English útgang, exit.
• aẃ /æuː/ n. slang. Outdoors, countryside. — Middle Hacean auu, from Old English út, out. See ẃ.

á

• áneí /ˈaːnɛi/ a. Any. — Old English ǽnig, ǽneg, any.

b

• baiwƿ /bæɪʊw/ n. colloq. Bug, creepy-crawly. — Old English bétel, beetle; see béle.
• beyśe /ˈbɛəʃə/ n. Female animal; pejoratively, woman. — Old English bicce, bitch.
• béjan /ˈbeːjæn/ v. To bite; to cut off a small piece. — Old English bítan. Base form is bé.
• béje /ˈbeːjə/ n. Bite, chunk. — From the verb.
• béjyne /ˈbeːjənə/ n. Bite (act of biting).
• béle /ˈbeːlə/ n. Beetle. — Old English bítela.
• bjowm /bjɔʊm/ n. Tree. — Old English beám.
• bown /bɔʊn/ n. Bone (as an object). — Old English bán.
• bownas /ˈbɔʊnæs/ n. Bone (as a material). — Merely a compound of bown and -nas.
• bózym /ˈboːzəm/ n. Chest, bosom; torso. — Old English bósm.
• bwŕ /bʊʀ/ n. Fort, castle, palace, large building. — Old English burh, fort.
• bẃ /buː/ n. Settlement; farm dwellings. — Old English and Old Norse by.
• bẃrgan /ˈbuːrɡæn/ v. To entomb. — Back-formation from bẃrǵaws, q.v.
• bẃrǵaws /ˈbuːrɣæʊs/ n. Tomb, mausoleum. — Variant of bẃrǵywƿs, on the notion that it stood for *bẃrg-haws, see bẃrgan and haws.
• bẃrǵywƿs /ˈbuːrɣəʊws/ n. Tomb. — Old English byrgels, tomb. See also bẃrǵaws.
• bẃreíjan /buˈrɛijæn/ v. To bury (an object, not a person). — Old English byrigan.
• byconan /bəˈkɔnæn/ v. To enable, make able. — Causative form of conan, q.v.
• bycwynan /bəˈkʊənæn/ v. colloq. To teach. — Affixation of by-, a causative, to cwynan, q.v. Normal verb of teaching is ceinan.
• bycwynár /bəˈkʊənar/ n. colloq. Teacher.
• bymoŋan /bəˈmɔŋæn/ v. To mix (together). — Causative form of moŋan, q.v.
• byryjan /bəˈrəjæn/ v. To pledge, promise. — Middle Hacean bureian (burejan), from Old English borgian.
• bysćúźan /bəˈsxɑːʒæn/ v. To ruffle (hair). — Affixation of by- to sćúźe, q.v.
• bysturc /bəˈstʌrk/ i. slang Woot! Yes! etc., indicates victory or successful completion of a task. — From the verb, on the notion that one has been 'placed higher' by succeeding.
• bysturcan /bəˈstʌrkæn/ v. To raise up, place higher. — Formed from by- and sturc, q.v.
• bywć /bəʊx/ n. Cow. — Welsh buwch, cow.
• býr /bɜːr/ n. Beer. — Old English beor.
• býrǵan /ˈbɜːrɣæn/ v. To protect, hide away; to keep. — Old English beorgan, to protect.
• býrǵáiþ /ˈbɜːrɣaɪθ/ n. Protection.
• býrǵe /ˈbɜːrɣə/ n. Stash, caché; hideaway. — From the verb.
• býŕ /bɜːʀ/ n. Mound, pile; stash. — Old English beorh, mound or hill. Second sense is due to influence of býrǵe, q.v.

c

• caes /kæɛs/ n. Hate, hatred. — Welsh cas.
• caesan /ˈkæɛsæn/ v. To hate. — Formed from caes.
• caese /ˈkæɛsə/ n. Hatred. — From the verb.
• caesfowƿ /ˈkæɛsfɔʊw/ a. Hateful; evil.
• cawðan /ˈkæʊðæn/ v. To be famous. — Either Old English cúð, known, or Kythish cwynan, q.v. Not found in Middle Hacean.
• cawðáiþ /ˈkæʊðaɪθ/ n. Fame.
• cawðár /ˈkæʊðar/ n. Celebrity.
• cawðswm /ˈkæʊðzʊm/ a. Famous.
• ceinan /ˈkɛɪnæn/ v. To teach. — Old English cennan, to cause to know.
• ceináiþ /ˈkɛɪnaɪθ/ n. Education.
• ceinár /ˈkɛɪnar/ n. Teacher.
• ceine /ˈkɛɪnə/ n. Lesson. — From the verb.
• ceinhaws /ˈkɛɪnhæʊs/ n. School. — Literally "lesson-building", compound of ceine and haws, q.v.
• ceinlýs /ˈkɛɪnlɜs/ a. Uneducated. — Literally "lessonless", from ceine and the suffix -lýs.
• ceinon /ˈkɛɪnɔn/ n. Student.
• cíþrár /ˈkiːθrar/ n. Close or intimate friend. — Possibly connected to cwiþár via an unattested form *cwiþyrár.
• cíþrárnas /kiθˈraːrnæs/ n. Friendship group. — Affixation of -nas to cíþrár, q.v.
• cíþráráiþ /kiθˈraːraɪθ/ n. Close friendship.
• conan /ˈkɔnæn/ v. To be able. — Old English can.
• confowƿ /ˈkɔnfɔʊw/ a. Full of ability; well-suited to a particular task.
• conlýs /ˈkɔnlɜs/ a. Without ability; weak; stupid.
• conlýsáiþ /kɔnˈlɜːsaɪθ/ n. pejor. Weakness. — From the adjective, and influenced by conlýsár.
• conlýsár /kɔnˈlɜːsar/ n. pejor. Weakling. — From the adjective.
• conswm /ˈkɔnsʊm/ a. Able.
• coo /kɔː/ n. Cat. — Old English cat.
• coostopan /ˌkɔːˈstɔpæn/ v. To tip-toe, to creep. — Literally "cat-step"; compound of coo, cat, and stopan, to walk, q.v.
• coostopár /ˌkɔːˈstɔpar/ n. One who creeps, or a creeper (plant).
• coostopyrár /ˌkɔːˈstɔpərar/ n. A spy or cat-burgler. — Frequentative of coostopár.
• cowƿ /kɔʊw/ n. Basket; sack. — Old English caul, basket, from Latin cavellum.
• cuwn /kʌʊn/ a. Chewed, mangled. — Old English cowen, past participle of ceówan, see śjóƿan.
• cwiðan /ˈkʊɪðæn/ v. To reveal. — Old English cýðan, to make known.
• cwiðyne /ˈkʊɪðənə/ n. Revealing, unveiling. — From the continuative of cwiðan.
• cwiþár /ˈkʊɪθar/ n. Fellow countryman. — Derived from cwiþe.
• cwiþe /ˈkʊɪθə/ n. One's homeland; the Kythe. — Old English cýððe, native land, kindred.
• cwnan /ˈkʊnæn/ n. To test; to inquire. — Old English cunnian, to seek to know, to test.
• cwnár /ˈkʊnar/ n. Tester.
• cwne /ˈkʊnə/ n. Test. — From the verb.
• cwnyrár /ˈkʊnərar/ n. Scientist. — Frequentative of cwnár.
• cwnyráráiþ /kʊnəˈraːraɪθ/ n. Science.
• cwynan /ˈkʊənæn/ irreg. v. To know. — Old English cunnan.

  1st person imperfect past: cawð /kæʊð/

  2nd person imperfect past: cawþs /kæʊθs/

  3rd person imperfect past: cawþ /kæʊθ/

  Perfective past: cawðaf /ˈkæʊðæf/

• cwynáiþ /ˈkʊənaɪθ/ n. Knowledge. — From the verb.
• cwyne /ˈkʊənə/ n. Something known; a piece of information. — From the verb.
• cwynyran /ˈkʊənəræn/ v. To be knowledgeable. — Frequentative of cwynan.
• cwynyrár /ˈkʊənərar/ n. A sage.
• cyn- /kən/ f. Can, able to (indicates ability to do something). — From conan, q.v. Usually unstressed.
• cynƿóć /ˈkənwox/ a. Bendy, bendable, malleable. — Literally 'can-bend', see cyn- and ƿóćan. Note unusual stress.

ć

• ćjaap /xjæːp/ n. A lean or worthless sheep, specifically one from a highland area; humorously, a goat. — Originally a dialectal variation of sćjowp, sheep, presumably from around the banoǵacei region.

d

• daí /dæi/ n. Day. — Old English dæg.
• daw /dæʊ/ a. & n. Two. — Welsh dau.
• drẃǵ /druːɣ/ a. Dehydrated, dried. — Old English dryge, dry. Compare with zjowr. Related to drwíjan, q.v.
• drwíjan /ˈdrʊijæn/ v. To (make) dry. — Old English drugian, to dry. Related to drẃǵ, q.v.
• duźe /ˈdʌʒə/ n. Pet dog, or broadly, any pet. — Old English docga, dog.
• duźwc /ˈdʌʒʊk/ n. Small or juvenile pet. — Diminutive of duźe.
• dwnrainyn /dʊnˈræɪnən/ i. colloq. It's raining (down). — From dwn-, down, and rainyn, continuative of rainan, q.v.
• dwyn /dʊən/ a. Dark, murky. — Old English dunn.
• dẃdan /ˈduːdæn/ v. To delay, to deceive. — Probably Old English dydrian, to lead hither and thither.
• dẃdáiþ /ˈduːdaɪθ/ n. Deception.
• dẃdár /ˈduːdar/ n. Delayer, deceiver; one who obstructs.
• dẃdáran /duˈda:ræn/ v. colloq. pejor. To be employed by the government. — From dẃdár, on the notion that to work for the government is to be a delayer, deceiver or both.
• dẃdáráiþ /duˈda:raɪθ/ n. colloq. pejor. Government employment.
• dẃdáre /duˈda:rə/ n. Filibuster (in politics). — From dẃdár, as it is 'something that delays'.
• dẃde /ˈduːdə/ n. Delay. — From the verb.
• dẃdre /ˈduːdrə/ n. Winding path, trail. — Formerly dialectal. Likely from Old English dydrian, and thus related to dẃdan, q.v.
• dẃdyran /ˈduːdəræn/ v. To con. — Frequentative of dẃdan, q.v.
• dẃdyrár /ˈduːdərar/ n. Con artist.
• dẃdyre /ˈduːdərə/ n. Con. — From the verb.
• dẃiráin /duɪˈraɪn/ n. colloq. A downpour. — Nordaþ dyrain, itself a borrowing of Kythish dwnrainyn, q.v. Nordaþ territory is significantly wetter than much of the Kythe, so their rain is a Kythishman's torrent.
• dẃiráinan /duɪˈraɪnæn/ v. colloq. To pour with rain. — From the noun.
• dẃn /duːn/ a. Dusky, dark (of a colour). — Welsh dwn.
• dẃnrywd /ˈduːnrəʊd/ a. & n. Dark red. — Compound of dẃn and rywd, q.v.
• dẃran /ˈduːræn/ v. To ramble, to hike. — Probably derived from either dẃdre or its Old English etymon, dydrian.
• dẃrár /ˈduːrar/ n. Rambler, hiker.
• dẃre /ˈduːrə/ n. Ramble, hike. — From the verb.

ð

• ða /ðæ/ p. Thou. — Old English ðú. A better form is ðaw, q.v.
• ðaa /ðæː/ c. That. — Old English ðæt, neuter singular of ðe or se, the.
• ðaðar /ˈðæðær/ p. That (inanimate object or concept). — Middle Hacean ðaa ðar, that there; see ðaa and ðar. The animate equivalent is sei.
• ðahair /ˈðæhæɪr/ p. This (inanimate object or concept). — Middle Hacean ðaa heer, that here; see ðaa and hair. The animate equivalent is ðeis.
• ðajun /ˈðæjʌn/ p. Yon (inanimate object or concept). — Middle Hacean ðaa giun, that yonder; see ðaa and jun. The animate equivalent is seijun.
• ðar /ðær/ a. There. — Old English ðær.
• ðaw /ðæʊ/ p. dial. Thou. — A large number of rural dialects retain this instead of the standard ða, where the final -w was lost for unknown reasons.
• ðeis /ðɛɪs/ p. This (animate object). — Old English ðes, this. The inanimate equivalent is ðahair.

e

• en /ɛn/ a. In. — Old English in.
• enýrþan /ɛnˈɜːrθæn/ v. To plant. — Compound of en and ýrþ, q.v.
• eŋoŋ /ˈɛŋɔŋ/ n. Entrance, in-door. — Old English ingang, entrance.
• eś /ɛʃ/ p. I. — Old English ic. In metropolitan hácei and þýcod, aś² is also commonly used.

f

• faa /fæː/ n. Fat. — Old English fæt.
• faafowƿ /ˈfæːfɔʊw/ a. Fat, obese. — Literally "full of fat".
• feś /fɛʃ/ n. Fish. — Old English fisc.
• féylan /ˈfeəlæn/ irreg. v. To fell, cause to fall. — Old English fellan.

  1st person imperfect present: féwƿ /feʊw/

  2nd person imperfect present: féwƿs /feʊws/

  3rd person imperfect present: féwƿþ /feʊwθ/

• fjówr /fjoʊr/ a. & n. dial./colloq. Four. — Old English feówer. Though nonstandard, this word is common enough to merit inclusion. The standard word is pydwyr, q.v.
• fjúþ /fjɑːθ/ n. Hate. — Nordaþ fjaþ, hate. Largely replaced native caes, q.v.
• fjúþan /ˈfjɑːθæn/ v. To hate. — As above. Largely replaced native caesan, hooƿan, q.v.
• fjúþár /ˈfjɑːθar/ n. Hater.
• fjúþon /ˈfjɑːθɔn/ n. Subject of hate.
• fjúþyrár /ˈfjɑːθərar/ n. Enemy, esp. political. — Political rhetoric, literally "habitual hater". See also fjýþyrar.
• fjúþyron /ˈfjɑːθərɔn/ n. Victim, as of hate crimes. — Political rhetoric.
• fjúþyronan /fjɑˈθərɔnæn/ v. To victimise. — Not commonly used outside of political correctness camps, where it originates.
• fjýþyrar /ˈfjɜːθərar/ n. Humorously, any leftist. — Representation of the pronunciation of fjúþyrár by teofan schjómocar (who spoke with a caźowm accent, a southern dialect), a right-wing politician famed for accusing anyone he disliked of being an 'enemy of the Kythe'.
• fúlan /ˈfɑːlæn/ irreg. v. To fall. — Old English feallan.

  1st person imperfect present: fúwƿ /fɑʊw/

  2nd person imperfect present: fúwƿs /fɑʊws/

  3rd person imperfect present: fúwƿþ /fɑʊwθ/

• fwǵ /fʊɣ/ n. Bird. — Old English fugol. The original -ywƿ ending was confused with the diminutive in -wƿ and lost.
• fwǵwƿ /ˈfʊɣʊw/ n. Small or domesticated bird; occasionally, wing. — Diminutive of fwǵ, q.v.
• fwir /fʊɪr/ n. Fire. — Old English fýr.
• fwiran /ˈfʊɪræn/ v. To set on fire; to start a fire. — From the noun.
• fwirár /ˈfʊɪrar/ n. Firestarter, arsonist.
• fwidyrár /ˈfʊɪdərar/ n. Pyromaniac. — Formed by dissimilation from *fwiryrár (not attested), frequentative of fwirár.
• fwŕ /fʊʀ/ n. Fir, any conifer. — Old English furh.

g

• geiŋe /ˈɡɛɪŋə/ n. Traveller; regular (as of a bar). — Old English genga, goer.
• goŋ /ɡɔŋ/ n. Journey, adventure. — Old English gang, journey.
• goŋan /ˈɡɔŋæn/ v. To go; to move. — Old English gangan, to go. Doublet of gown, q.v.
• goŋáiþ /ˈɡɔŋaɪθ/ n. Movement. — From goŋan.
• goŋár¹ /ˈɡɔŋar/ n. One who goes; go-getter. — From goŋan.
• goŋár² /ˈɡɔŋar/ n. Adventurer. — From goŋ.
• goŋswm /ˈɡɔŋsʊm/ a. Adventurous. — From goŋ.
• goŋyran /ˈɡɔŋəræn/ v. To travel (continuously). — Frequentative of goŋan, q.v.
• goŋyrár /ˈɡɔŋərar/ n. Nomad.
• gown /ɡɔʊn/ p. Indicates future tense of verb it appears before. — Old English gán, to go. Doublet of goŋan, q.v.
• gowr /ɡɔʊr/ n. Barb, sharp point. — Old English gár, spear.
• gowrstaf /ˈɡɔʊrstæf/ n. Spear, pike. — Compound of gowr and staf, q.v.
• gud /ɡʌd/ n. God. — Old English god.
• gudazolyr /ˌɡʌdæˈzɔlər/ n. Place of death; old battlefield. — Literally "god's altar", compound of gudas, genitive of gud, and olyr, an archaic form of owƿr, q.v. The exact connection between the literal meaning and the modern sense is obscure.