blaen

Welsh

Etymology

Perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to throw”).

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /blaːɨ̯n/
• (South Wales, standard, colloquial) IPA^(key): /blai̯n/
  • (South Wales, colloquial) IPA^(key): /blaːn/
• Rhymes: -aːɨ̯n

Noun

blaen m (plural blaenau)

1. tip, point, apex
2. front
3. foremost, first, leader
4. (usually in the plural) frontier, march, border; uplands, highlands

Derived terms

• blaengar (“prominent; advanced”)
• blaeneuwr (“highlander”)
• blaenor (“elder”)
• blaenyrru (“to forward”)
• o flaen (“in front of”)
• o'r blaen (“before, beforehand”)
• ymlaen (“forward, ahead, on”)

 

Adjective

blaen (feminine singular blaen, plural blaen, equative blaened, comparative blaenach, superlative blaenaf)

1. front, foremost, anterior

Derived terms

• golau blaen (“headlight”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of blaen

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
blaen	flaen	mlaen	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “blaen”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies